Five questions for South Carolina football, Shane Beamer ahead of 2024 preseason practices

COLUMBIA — South Carolina football players practice Friday and officially begin the start of preparations for the 2024 season.

Shane Beamer begins his fourth year as coach of the Gamecocks with new offensive talent and veteran leaders on defense. After a 5-7 season last year, South Carolina’s expectations from the outside in the new 16-team SEC aren’t sky high as the Gamecocks were picked to finish 13th in the media’s preseason poll.

Now, with redshirt freshman LaNorris Sellers as the new quarterback, a transfer-filled roster and position battles to be settled, South Carolina begins its pursuit of a winning season. Here are five of our biggest questions that might be answered during preseason.

Who will be the starting wide receiver for South Carolina?

Beamer didn’t talk much about wide receivers during SEC Media Days. He just briefly mentioned how the Gamecocks are without Xavier Legette, who was drafted by the Carolina Panthers, after leading the team in receiving yards with 1,255 and seven touchdowns in 2023. Antwane L. “Juice” Wells Jr., who had 928 receiving yards in 2022, transferred to Ole Miss.

Jared Brown, Ahmari Huggins-Bruce, Gage Larvadain, Dalevon Campbell and Vandrevius Jacobs are the five new transfer receivers, who are in a position battle with freshman Mazeo Bennett and sophomore Tyshawn Russell.

In the spring game, Russell and Bennett combined for 42 receiving yards but as of right now, there isn’t an obvious choice to replace Legette.

Does Robby Ashford still have a shot at QB1?

When Beamer named Sellers the starting quarterback in May, he was careful with his wording and made it clear that it was still a position to compete for in August. He complimented Robby Ashford and made it clear that if Sellers didn’t work for it, it could be taken away.

Ashford, a redshirt senior, transferred to South Carolina from Auburn with two years of eligibility remaining and while he’s much older than Sellers, he has less experience playing for the Gamecocks.

While it’s almost certain Sellers will take the field in the season opener on Aug. 31 against Old Dominion, Beamer’s wording begs the question of what Ashford’s role will look like in practices and how many reps he’ll take as quarterback in August.

South Carolina football’s kicker battle

Quarterback and wide receiver aren’t the only position battles this season. The Gamecocks also lost kicker Mitch Jeter, who transferred to Notre Dame.

In the spring game, freshman Mason Love was the punter for Team Black and sixth-year player Alex Herrera kicked field goals, and are two of Beamer’s best options.

Other options included redshirt freshman Peyton Argent, who kicked for Team Garnet in the spring, redshirt sophomore Daniel Lester and redshirt junior William Joyce.

What happens if Rocket Sanders gets injured again?

The run game this season is expected to be all Rocket Sanders, a senior who transferred from Arkansas. Sanders battled a knee injury and torn labrum in 2023 and only played six games. Beamer praised his rehab process and said he’s ready to go, but with so much pressure on Sanders to carry the offense, do the Gamecocks have a backup plan?

How much can the offensive line improve from last year?

South Carolina’s offensive line was riddled by injuries last year, and with a new quarterback who can run and throw the ball, Sellers will need maximum protection.

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With the freshman trio of Kam Pringle, Blake Franks, and Josiah Thompson and veterans Jakai Moore and Vershon Lee, the Gamecocks have great potential but will need to continue to improve to face some of the best defenses in the SEC like Alabama and LSU.

Lulu Kesin covers South Carolina athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email her at lkesin@gannett.com and follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @Lulukesin