Early breakdown of South Carolina’s 2024 WR room

South Carolina’s offseason rolls on as they look ahead to the 2024 season.

With the transfer portal officially opening up earlier this week, the Gamecocks are slowly having a better idea as to what several positional rooms will look like next season.

In the coming weeks and months, South Carolina will be adding pieces to their roster from both the high school ranks as well as through the transfer portal. They’ll also likely see a few players decide to hit the portal or they’ll decide to declare for the NFL Draft. Things can always change but for the purpose of this exercise I’ll be writing based on what I expect each positional room to look like next year.

While 2024 prospects can’t make their commitments official until Dec. 20 on National Signing Day, here’s an early breakdown on what USC’s tight end room could look like in order by year. For this exercise, I’m only focusing on the players who are on scholarship.

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Luke Doty – Doty has been with the program since 2020 but due to a COVID-19 season and using a redshirt year in 2022, he still has two years of eligibility remaining. Despite serving as South Carolina’s backup QB in 2023, Doty started in two games at wide receiver and caught 13 passes for 123 yards and a touchdown.

Payton Mangrum – A former walk-on, Mangrum caught two passes for 31 yards last season. He’s been a key contributor on special teams for the Gamecocks and has one year of eligibility remaining.

Nyck Harbor – The former five-star commit appeared in all 12 games as a true freshman this past season. Starting in five games, Harbor hauled in 12 passes for 145 yards and a touchdown.

Tyshawn Russell – Russell appeared in ten games as a true freshman in 2023, including the final nine games. He caught five passes for 81 yards and a touchdown.

Elijah Caldwell – Caldwell didn’t appear in a game in 2023 as a true freshman. He still has four years of eligibility remaining.

Kelton Henderson – Helton appeared in two games in 2023 as a true freshman but did not record a stat. He still has four years of eligibility remaining.

CJ Adams – Adams didn’t appear in a game in 2023 as a true freshman. He still has four years of eligibility remaining.

Mazeo Bennett – Originally listed as an “Athlete,” Bennett’s position was updated to “wide receiver” by On3 this past spring. After moving up eight spots during the summer, he’s now listed as the 32nd WR for his class. The nearly 6-0, 180-pound wide out is rated as the No.3 overall prospect from South Carolina and is expected to enroll in January.

Zy’marion Lang – Regarded as the 93rd top wide out in the nation by On3, Lang is 6-3, 170 pounds. A talented athlete who played both ways in high school, Lang has the size, length, and speed to make an impact at the next level.

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Takeaways

Like with the quarterback, running back, and tight end rooms that we’ve already discussed, South Carolina’s wide receiver room is extremely young and inexperienced. Doty (13) and Harbor (12) will return as USC’s top two wide outs from last season.

While we’ll have to wait and see how the Gamecocks decide to use Doty in 2024, since he currently has the most experience in USC’s quarterback room, for the purpose of this exercise Doty should factor in as a No.3/No.4 wide receiver early next year based on the current roster.

While I expect the Gamecocks to go out into the transfer portal to bring in an experienced wide out or two, I’m intrigued to see the growth of Harbor and Russell. Harbor flashed at times in his first season but it’s clear he’s still a work in progress. That was expected though as it was his first season playing wide receiver after being a talented defensive end and tight end in high school.

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Russell didn’t have a huge role this past season but the true freshman quickly earned the trust of the coaching staff. I’d expect Russell to be a player who takes a major step forward next season.

There’s also some young talented WRs who hardly played in 2023, if at all. Combine that with the young talent that’s coming in starting with Bennett and we could see a young star or two emerge in a room that will certainly need it next season.

Early 2024 Week 1 Prediction:

This room is still far from being complete. Adding some experience via the transfer portal feels like a must this offseason for the Gamecocks. Having said that, based on who is currently left in the room, Harbor and Russell will be your top two wide outs with Doty being slotted behind them. Since this is my early prediction section, young wide outs are gonna have to emerge. I really think Caldwell and Bennett could be two of those guys to do just that with Henderson and Adams competing to be the No.6 wide receiver. Again, this is based on who is currently in USC’s wide receiver room. A room that I expect to see some additional faces come time for Week 1.

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