South Carolina secondary hopes to Dial up good Fortune in 2023 after NFL departures
Torrian Gray had the luxury of having a pair of future NFL Draft picks at cornerback the past two seasons. That changes this year.
The South Carolina defensive backs coach has a lot of inexperienced depth at the position with the departures of Cam Smith, a second-round pick by the Miami Dolphins and Darius Rush, who was drafted in the fifth round by the Indianapolis Colts.
“Those guys are NFL guys and rightfully so,” Gray told The State last week at the Birdies with Beamer media golf event. “It was a luxury of having those guys out wide. Now guys are going to have to fill in those shoes.”
Redshirt senior Marcellas Dial and junior O’Donnell Fortune are the likely starters in place of Smith and Rush at the two cornerback spots.
Dial led the Gamecocks with three interceptions in 2022 and earned SEC Defensive Player of the Week honors after his performance against Clemson. Fortune, the former Sumter High standout, started in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl and returned an interception 100 yards for a touchdown against Notre Dame.
Fortune also was voted the team’s most improved player on defense in the spring.
But behind Dial and Fortune, there’s a lot of inexperience with redshirt freshman Emory Floyd, true freshmen Judge Collier, Vicari Swain and Zahbari Sandy, and Isaiah Norris, a JUCO transfer who didn’t see much action last season.
“Guys are talented but there is a lot of inexperience,” Gray said. “Fall camp is going to be getting to the basics of fundamentals and having to coach those guys to understand the urgency of their position. We are going to need them to grow up fast.”
Secure at safety
While the cornerback spot will be a question, Gray and the Gamecocks have a pair of returners at two of the safety spots in Nick Emmanwori and DQ Smith, who both exceeded expectations in 2022 as freshmen.
David Spaulding will likely start at USC’s nickelback position. Gray also expects big things from sophomores Peyton Williams, Kajuan Banks, Keenan Nelson and true freshman Jalon Kilgore.
Emmanwori, who played at Irmo High School, stepped in after RJ Roderick went down in the 2022 season opener and was a starter the rest of the season.
Emmanwori led the team with 85 tackles and earned first-team All-Southeastern Conference honors as well as freshman All-American honors from various publications.
Smith, a quarterback in high school at Spring Valley, ended up starting in 11 games and had 54 tackles, two interceptions, five pass breakups and had a pair of touchdowns on special teams.
“What those guys did in this conference wasn’t easy to do, but they were still freshmen,” Gray said. “They still made freshman mistakes and they know they have to be more consistent. But they know that and they are excited about having the opportunity to do that.
“They have the physical and mental capacity, the right demeanor. They love football and love to compete. They have all the intangibles along with the physical ability to be good football players.”
Gamecock secondary players
DeAngelo Gibbs, Sr.-Grad transfer
Marcellas Dial, R-Sr.
B.J. Gibson, Sr.
Isaiah Norris, Sr.
David Spaulding, R-Sr.
King-Demenian Ford, R-Jr.
O’Donnell Fortune, R-Jr.
Landon Grier R-Jr.
Joseph Byrnes, R-So.
Kajuan Banks, So.
Nick Emmanwori, So.
DQ Smith, So.
Jace Blackshear, R-Fr.
Emory Floyd, R-Fr.
Keenan Nelson Jr., R-Fr.
Peyton Williams R-Fr.
Judge Collier, Fr.
Jalon Kilgore. Fr.
Zahbari Sandy. Fr.
Vicari Swain, Fr.
