South Carolina star EDGE lone Gamecock on PFF Top 50 players list for 2026

With the 2026 college football season approaching, more and more lists are coming around. This time, it’s Pro Football Focus (PFF) releasing its top 50 players for the 2026 college football season.

South Carolina’s exposure on the list is minimal. In fact, it’s singular. Edge rusher Dylan Stewart is the lone Gamecock represented on PFF’s list. The junior ranked No. 20 on PFF’s Top 50 list.

What does this mean for the Gamecocks? Mingo Martin and fellow subscribers are discussing it now on The Insiders Forum.

2026 marks the second straight year Stewart is the lone South Carolina representative. Ahead of the 2025 season, Stewart ranked No. 9 among the publication’s top 50 players.

“Stewart was our No. 2 edge rusher on this list last year and drops one spot after just an okay sophomore campaign,” Dalton Wasserman and Max Chadwick of PFF wrote. “Still, his body of work over his first two seasons and freaky tools deserve a spot in the top three of this list.”

The junior edge ranks behind Texas’s Colin Simmons and Louisville’s Clev Lubin among edge rushers.

“His 88 pressures since 2024 are second to only Colin Simmons among players who have played in the Power Four in each of the last two years,” Chadwick and Wasserman continue. ” Stewart has an elite 90.2 PFF pass-rush grade in that span and improved his run-defense grade to a 79.0 in 2025 after a 61.9 mark as a true freshman.”

In addition to his 88 pressures, Stewart led South Carolina in tackles for loss as a sophomore with 12. Stewart also totaled 33 tackles in his 11 starts. He missed the Gamecocks’ late-season contest against Coastal Carolina due to a back injury.

That same injury plagued Stewart into the offseason, leading to the junior missing spring practice. Head coach Shane Beamer said in early June that Stewart is progressing well with his injury.

The preseason All-American is expected to return by the season opener in September against Kent State.

“He has all the makings of a top-five pick if he can bounce back as a junior,” Chadwick and Wasserman concluded.

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