With Nick Emmanwori potentially returning, what could South Carolina do at defensive back?
At some point sooner rather than later–and as early as this week–Nick Emmanwori will be back patrolling centerfield for South Carolina.
The Gamecocks’ safety, who’s missed all but one play of the season so far, is coming back from a hamstring injury and will likely be in the starting lineup once healthy.
And that creates a good problem for South Carolina with his replacement, Jalon Kilgore, playing extremely well.
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“Jalon Kilgore has come in and proven he’s a stud. Come and look at the last two games and the amount of plays he’s made at the point of attack,” Shane Beamer said. “I know we’ve only played two games. But he’s very much like Nick and DQ (Smith) were last year coming in as true freshmen.”
Kilgore’s played 109 plays so far this season with PFF giving him a 74.2 overall grade and an 85.7 grade in the run game. Of those snaps, 55 have come in the box, 35 have been at free safety and 16 have come in the slot according to PFF.
With Emmanwori’s return looming, the conundrum becomes how the Gamecocks shift things in the defensive backfield.
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The easiest solution would be to slide DQ Smith from free safety to the nickel back–especially with starter Keenan Nelson banged up–as a guy who’s played 461 of his 834 career snaps in the slot.
Of the 765 snaps Emmanwori’s logged the last two seasons, 298 have come in the box with 294 at free safety and 152 in the slot.
Both could certainly play that nickel position while defensive coordinator Clayton White seems to see Kilgore more as a safety right now.
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“Everything’s collective back there with those guys. We’re trying our best to be as versatile as most of our guys,” he said. “Nick and DQ can move around but Jalon, everybody’s different, but he’ll probably be stuck in one position.”
If Emmanwori can’t go or is limited on Saturday in Athens, it will likely be Kilgore and Smith starting at safety and the question persists about the starting nickel back.
Nelson is banged up along with his backup David Spaulding. That means redshirt freshman Kajuan Banks could see a significant amount of snaps there.
He’s played 53 snaps already this year with some productive moments.
“Pop plays, like you call them. He’s got a toughness. He’s an undersized guy. But he throws his body around and he’s a football player,” Beamer said. “He’s a competitor and has an edge about him even though he’s undersized. The guy just loves to play and loves to compete. He knows he’s undersized but makes up for it with the edge he plays with.”
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PFF gives Banks a 66.3 overall grade this season. He has a 70.3 coverage grade and a 54.7 grade in the run defense.
Of the 53 snaps he’s played, the vast majority (40) have come in the slot at nickel back.
“I would say Kajuan Banks kept it upbeat and kept a smile on his face. You know exactly what you’re going to get from him. That helps in regards to preparing yourself for that moment,” White said. “When his number was called in the UNC game he made a play for us. Eh’s trying to learn multiple positions.”
