Peyton Williams embracing competition with chance to start in secondary

Peyton Williams came in the same year as Nick Emmanwori and DQ Smith as the future of South Carolina’s secondary. Yet Emmanwori and Smith played right away as freshmen, while Williams has had to wait his turn for most of his college career.

Going into his fourth season with the Gamecocks, though, he could have an opportunity to see the field a lot more often. With Emmanwori set to begin his NFL career with the Seattle Seahawks, his spot at safety will be up for grabs this season, and Williams will be in the mix to start.

“I’ve learned quite a bit from Nick. He was a very talented, smart football player, as y’all know,” Williams said. “Just watching how he plays, seeing the way he leverages. He sees me doing something, he’ll come up to me, ‘Hey, if you see this type of formation, you can make this, or you know this is going to come backside.'”

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Williams has been battling in fall camp alongside David Bucey, who’s entering his sophomore season, for those duties. Kelvin Hunter and Kendall Daniels Jr. will also be looking to earn reps, while Smith returns for his fourth year as a starter at the other safety spot.

“We’re all competing out there,” Williams said. “Everybody’s trying to get better, regardless of how long you’ve been here. Just going out there, working every day, knowing that we’re working. So just continue to work, and everybody’s out there getting better.”

One advantage that Williams has over the others is experience. After only playing in three games during his first two seasons, he played in all 13 games last year. He made his first career start against Vanderbilt to replace an injured Smith, and then he played the entire second half of the Citrus Bowl in Emmanwori’s place.

In his lone start, Williams made a career-high seven tackles and had two pass breakups, including a fourth-down stop late in the third quarter. He finished the year with 19 tackles, eight of which were solo.

“I feel like that’s important for my growth,” Williams said, “because getting those game reps it’s kind of a big deal, you know, getting the feeling of the game. Taking it to practice, you understand the formations more and just more things like that.”

It’s still early in camp as South Carolina’s season opener in Atlanta is a little over three weeks away. The team will have its first preseason scrimmage on Saturday to get a real gauge on where all the position battles stand.

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If Williams were named the starter, though, his teammates would feel confident in what he can add to the secondary.

“He brings it every single day. The way he practices, practice habits, he practices like a pro,” Brandon Cisse said. “Just from the angles he takes in practice. He’s always about tackling the right way. Always trying to put his hands on the ball the right way. He goes about his business the right way and communicates. Just an elite guy to be around every single day.”

“Just pull up the film on Peyton,” Jalon Kilgore added. “He does what he needs to do to get in the game. He knows his role. He knows how to play, he knows how to get to the ball. So I’m ready to see him ball out.”

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