South Carolina football’s Darius Rush drafted, headed to NFL’s Colts
Another South Carolina defensive back is off the board.
Darius Rush was selected in the fifth round and No. 138 overall by the Indianapolis Colts on Saturday in the 2023 NFL Draft.
He’s the third Gamecock to be selected in this year’s draft: Cam Smith and Zacch Pickens were both drafted on Friday.
Rush has been a steady climber on draft boards since a standout showing at the Reese’s Senior Bowl earlier this offseason. He had been projected as high as a Day 2/Friday selection.
A Kingstree native, Rush came to South Carolina as a receiver after catching 47 passes for 863 yards and 17 touchdowns and rushing for another 125 yards and a touchdown as a senior at C.E. Murray. He was converted to a defensive back midway through fall camp in 2019.
Rush spent the bulk of the last two years opposite Smith at cornerback. He started 21 of the 23 games he appeared in during the 2021 and 2022 seasons, recording a career-high 38 tackles and two interceptions along with nine passes defended this past year.
Following his Senior Bowl efforts, Rush was invited to the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. He wowed scouts there with his 4.36-second 40-yard dash — tied for the fifth-best mark among the 30 participating cornerbacks with Georgia’s Kelee Ringo.
“My guess is that scouts didn’t know he was quite as fast as he ran at the combine,” NFL.com draft analyst Eric Edholm told The State as to why Rush was perhaps a bit undervalued early in the process. “I think they saw him as a 4.5-range guy coming into the season. Rush also had a very good Senior Bowl overall — he played well in the practices and also measured as one of the faster on-field testers, too. So you have 6-2, 200 pounds, sub-4.4 speed and quality character and football temperament, and it’s about as good of prospect calculus — at a priority position — as you can ask for.”
South Carolina players in 2023 NFL draft
Cam Smith — Second round, No. 51 overall (Miami Dolphins)
Zacch Pickens — Third round, No. 64 overall (Chicago Bears)
Darius Rush — Fifth round, No. 138 overall (Indianapolis Colts)
