Josh Pate identifies LaNorris Sellers' ceiling in 2025, predicts South Carolina breakout player

South Carolina just missed out on a College Football Playoff berth during the 2024 season, and optimism has rarely been higher in Columbia going into a new season. Much of that has to do with the return of quarterback LaNorris Sellers.

At least one major college football analyst, Josh Pate, believes Sellers is in for a major year. He explained on Josh Pate’s College Football Show.

“I believe he will level up,” Pate said. “There are people in the scouting world that believe he will be the No. 1 overall pick in the draft a year from now. I mean they’re that high on him. I mean he is big and he is physical, but there is a layer to his passing game that I think will be added on this year. And if we’re right about that, you better enjoy him while you can there.”

LaNorris Sellers is coming off a year in which he threw for 2,534 yards and 18 touchdowns, against seven interceptions. He also ran for 674 yards and seven more scores.

He has the dual-threat ability to be an absolute nightmare, coupling a physical running style with the unique ability to know when to take off. Pate raved about his potential.

“We could be getting ready to see something very special from LaNorris Sellers this year,” Pate said. “So my question No. 1 for South Carolina: What is the ceiling for him? Because he really popped last year, but he could be a superstar.

“There’s a lot of talk around Columbia right now about the impact Mike Shula is having on his passing game, pocket awareness. Shula is the offensive coordinator there, by the way.”

So what are the potential concerns, if there are any for unlocking LaNorris Sellers’ full potential? Pate dove into that too.

“The second thing that directly impacts the first thing is I don’t trust them at wide receiver,” Pate said. “And I wanted them to do what Penn State did. I wanted them to get ultra aggressive and go grab assets out of the transfer portal, and they just didn’t.

“Now they could know something about their team that I don’t. And that something could be they trust their evaluations, they trust their personnel, they trust their development. I hope that’s true. Just past Nyck Harbor I don’t really know where I’m looking and saying that and that and that, and that’s the depth I can hang my hat on.”