The post-spring assessment series on South Carolina’s 2024 team rolls. Today, we’re taking a deeper look at the Gamecocks running backs room.
Unlike the quarterback room that we looked at over the weekend, we’ll only be focusing on scholarship players for the breakdown.
Juju McDowell – A broken collarbone against Vanderbilt ended McDowell’s junior season. He rushed 63 yards on 26 carries, both career lows since arriving at USC. He has one year of eligibility remaining.
Djay Braswell – Injuries at running back forced Braswell to burn his redshirt by appearing in six games, including the final four. Rushing for 25 yards on 12 carries, Braswell also had three receptions for 35 yards, including a long of 30 yards. Although not used a lot, he showed off his speed, strength, and ability to block in the pass game.
Matthew Fuller – Fuller is currently rated as the No.11 running back in the country by On3 for the class of 2024. Fuller finished his senior season rushing for 2,086 yards (8.1 YPC) and 27 touchdowns on 256 carries.
Rocket Sanders – In 2022 at Arkansas, Sanders rushed for 1,443 yards and ten touchdowns. He also had 271 yards on 28 receptions and two scores. Injuries and a new offense kept Rocket from taking off the same way in 2023 but don’t let that fool you. There’s a reason why the 6-foot-2, 242-pound back is considered the No.2 running back in the transfer portal according to On3. He has one year of eligibility remaining.
Oscar Adaway III – Standing at 5-11, 219 pounds, he ranks fifth all-time in program history for North Texas with 1,935 career rushing yards. This past season Adaway rushed for 738 yards and six touchdowns, while averaging six yards per carry for the Mean Green. He also had 14 catches for 89 yards. Adaway has two years of eligibility remaining.
Jawarn Howell – As a true freshman at SC State, he rushed for 809 yards and seven touchdowns on 102 carries. That includes his monster 283-yard rushing performance, to go along with three touchdowns, against Howard just last month. Standing at 6-foot-1, 210 pounds, he has three years of eligibility remaining.
Takeaways
Injuries plagued South Carolina’s running back room this spring, with some of those injuries also impacting non-scholarship backs. With Rocket Sanders recovering from a shoulder injury he suffered towards the end of last season and Juju McDowell being held out after re-aggravating his collarbone injury that he’s coming back from, it opened the door for others to see more reps. I was very impressed in the spring game with both returner Djay Braswell and transfer back Oscar Adaway III.
Braswell had some nice hard runs and finished with 26 yards on five carries. Two things that really stood out about Braswell was how he ran downhill; he did’t get happy feet and dance around like he did at times last year as a true freshman. What that shows me is that he’s maturing and understands the blocking assignments of his offensive linemen better. Something I give credit to new running back coach Marquel Blackwell, who we’ve heard nothing but good reviews about so far. The second thing that stood out is Braswell didn’t have a run that went for negative yards.
Adaway made a solid impact too in multiple ways. The versatile back flashed in his limit action rushing for 12 yards to go along with two catches for 14 yards while also contributing in pass protection. What Adaway showed is that he’s capable of playing on any down.
From speaking with people close to the program, coaches were very pleased with both Braswell and Adaway this spring. They also liked the way Jawarn Howell looked with one source saying, “It’s gonna take some time with him but man, does he run the ball hard. We’re excited about him.”
Early 2024 Week 1 Prediction:
Heading into spring ball, I shared that despite not practicing this spring that I believed that Rocket Sanders would be the Week 1 starter. While he didn’t do anything to hurt his chances since then, I don’t think Adaway or Braswell should be overlooked. Especially not Week 1. While Sanders is on track to be back at 100 percent for the start of fall camp, he’ll be playing catch up behind two running backs who are coming off strong spring practices. It’s because of that that has me leaning towards Adaway having the slight advantage to get the start Week 1. Shoot, I’d throw Braswell right in there too because he’s proven in the past that he’s capable of blocking as well.
Regardless of who starts Week 1, I do believe that over time Sanders will be the guy , but I don’t believe it’s crazy to think that this coaching staff would ease him back into things. Especially if Adaway or Braswell can carry the momentum they created from the spring to fall camp.
Whether you agree or disagree with this notion, one thing it shows is how far this running back room has come in less than a year. If Rocket is the Rocket the Gamecocks expect him to be, having Braswell and Adaway is gonna lead to fresher proven legs in the backfield. Add in McDowell, and possibly Howell this season, and USC’s rushing attack could be real special this season. I say possibly Howell because I’m just not sure what the plan will be for this season. In a perfect world, everyone in South Carolina’s running back room stays healthy. Is it worth redshirting him or will he be able to see enough touches (with the names I already mentioned) to justify burning a redshirt year?
On that same train of thought, with that much talent, and experience, I expect USC’s plan will be to redshirt Matthew Fuller. The true freshman was a monster this past season in high school and he’s a player I’m excited to see develop over time. With how much experience is in that room, combined with Fuller not being an early enrollee, naturally he’ll be a little behind the rest of the running backs in the room. But that’s okay. That’s not an opinion, that’s just a fact. But if does ultimately redshirt, it’ll all even out in the end.
The post Post-spring assessment of South Carolina’s 2024 RB room appeared first on On3 .
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