Forgot about 'Dre: A look into South Carolina leading receiver Vandrevius Jacobs' ascension

Coming into the 2025 season, South Carolina’s wide receiver room was viewed as one loaded with young talent and buoyed by a couple of veterans. Senior Jared Brown and junior Nyck Harbor headlined the group, while a six-man freshman class paired with second-year player Mazeo Bennett provided optimism as tantalizing young talent.

Caught in the in-between, and (unfairly) forgotten by some, was redshirt sophomore Vandrevius Jacobs. Now, just five games into the campaign, no one is forgetting about ‘Dre.

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Jacobs leads South Carolina in both yards and receptions. Having brought down 18 catches for 323 yards, he is ninth in the SEC in receiving. He’s also registered over 100 yards in consecutive games, becoming the first Gamecock to do so since Xavier Legette in 2023.

Adding to the impressiveness of what Jacobs has accomplished, he wasn’t targeted at all in the season opener against Virginia Tech. Since then, he’s caught everything thrown his way, almost literally. He has snagged his 18 receptions on just 19 total targets.

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Jacobs’ road to becoming a weapon for the Gamecocks hasn’t been a straight path.

He caught just three balls at Florida State in 2023 before redshirting and hitting the transfer portal. Last season, he logged just 12 catches for 181 yards at USC, as minor injuries held him back from getting as many reps as he needed as a redshirt freshman. Following 59 yards in the 2024 season opener (nearly 30% of his yearly total), Jacobs averaged less than 20 yards per outing the rest of the way.

This preseason, much of the talk in the wide receiver room focused on Harbor (who, to his credit, looks improved, too) or the talented freshmen. It wasn’t a surprise when Jacobs wasn’t starting the first three weeks of this fall.

Then, despite having just one catch in three halves of football up to that point, Jacobs caught three passes on one drive against South Carolina State, including a 35-yard touchdown. Things were a little slow against Vanderbilt following quarterback LaNorris Sellers’ injury. But once Jacobs entered the starting lineup in week four, things changed in a major way.

Against Missouri and Kentucky, the Gamecock pass-catcher logged 12 receptions for 236 yards. He made some big plays, too, registering three catches that went for over 40 yards. Jacobs also served as a team captain against Kentucky last weekend.

His success has come in a variety of ways. No. 19 has pulled down a pair of Sellers deep balls. He has done really well when asked to run shorter routes. He has also been a threat after the catch, racking up nearly 50 yards of YAC on one play. Jacobs even made a lunging catch on a ball that teammate Brian Rowe tipped up into the air.

Behind only Sellers, Jacobs has earned the second-highest PFF grade among all offensive players. South Carolina football color commentator and former quarterback Tommy Suggs said it well during the Kentucky broadcast. “I think [the Gamecocks] have found a player.”

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With the toughest portion of the South Carolina schedule coming up next, Shane Beamer’s team will continue relying on Jacobs to be a major part of the team’s passing game. The Gamecocks will take on five teams in a row currently ranked in the top 13 of the AP poll.

Jacobs and the Gamecocks didn’t play on Saturday due to the first open date on the schedule. However, South Carolina will be back on the field next weekend to start the gauntlet. USC will travel to Baton Rouge for a night game showdown with the LSU Tigers.

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