Recruiting Rundown: official visits & welcome homes
Wes Mitchell and Kendall Smith have the latest on South Carolina Football Recruiting in this edition of the Recruiting Rundown on Gamecock Central.
For more on football recruiting, stay locked in at GamecockCentral.com.
You can also follow @GamecockCentral on social media for more.
Update on Missouri transfer Trajan Jeffcoat
By Chris Clark
The South Carolina Gamecocks have been hoping to bring Missouri transfer EDGE Trajan Jeffcoat back home. GamecockCentral.com has the latest on the situation, exclusively for members on The Insiders Forum.
MONDAY JANUARY 16 UPDATE ON TRANSFER EDGE TARGET TRAJAN JEFFCOAT
A former All-SEC first-team selection in 2020 at Missouri, Jeffcoat is an Irmo native who entered the NCAA transfer portal on January 8.
In 48 career games played at Missouri, Jeffcoat has collected 84 tackles including 11.5 sacks and 19 tackles-for-loss.
Jeffcoat had his best seasons in 2020, when he had 6.0 sacks, and 2021, when he had 3.5 sacks and 10 TFLs.
A three-star prospect in the 2018 class, Jeffcoat was ranked the No. 59 EDGE prospect in the country and the No. 762 overall prospect and No. 12 prospect in South Carolina.
Jeffcoat has one season of eligibility left at the collegiate level.
For the Gamecocks, EDGE is a critical need position heading into the 2023 season. Starters Jordan Burch and Gilber Edmond have departed via the transfer portal, although former starter Jordan Strachan has applied for another season of eligibility and is expected to have that wish granted.
More on the South Carolina EDGE position from GamecockCentral.com’s Lee Eberly, originally published on January 5 and edited to account for new developments:
Jordan Strachan, Jordan Burch, and Gilber Edmond made up for 82 percent of snaps played at the EDGE position for the Gamecocks in 2022. With two of these players already officially gone, the importance of the other returning has increased exponentially.
Subscribe (for free) to the Gamecock Central YouTube page!
Another EDGE player has also entered the transfer portal, Hot Rod Fitten. Fitten only played 8 snaps in his redshirt junior season because of the emergence of some of the younger players on the roster. Although Fitten did not play a big role in 2022, his absence will affect the depth in the room.
The known returners include Terrell Dawkins (Redshirt Junior), Tyreek Johnson (Redshirt Junior), and Bryan Thomas Jr. (Freshman). Tyreek Johnson and Bryan Thomas combined for 333 snaps during the 2022 season as they had to step up while other players were fighting injuries. Although they were not expected to be significant contributors this season, they both showed promise and did their job when needed. Dawkins only played 29 snaps in the first 3 games of the season before getting hurt. He was able to suit up for a couple of games later in the season but did not see the field again after getting hurt.
South Carolina has signed two 4-star EDGE recruits in Desmond Umeozulu and Monteque Rhames. The Gamecocks are really excited about both players and hope that they can be contributors early on in their college careers.”
