South Carolina RB A.J. Turner has been practicing with the first team for a week|USC Hot Topics|Team BattleGround|College BattleGround

Bits and pieces from the Gamecocks’ Monday afternoon practice…

Well, this is interesting: not only has running back A.J. Turner been running with the Gamecocks’ first team offense, he’s been there for a week. And assumed starting running back David Williams is now apparently fourth on the depth chart as of now.

It’s still early in camp, and this could be a motivational tactic or a temporary thing, but the chances of David Williams starting against Vanderbilt on September 1 are starting to look a little slim. Although he was listed on the depth chart as RB1 coming into camp, Williams hasn’t take control of this battle (which really shouldn’t have been a battle in the first place) because things appear to be wide open based on what we’re hearing out of practice:

“It could change any day,” (Rod) Talley said. “Don’t get too comfortable with yourself and keep working every day. That’s the mindset that I have.”

…

“Everyone expected for Dave to be that guy. Coach had a problem with him at first trying to be consistent every day. But it’s always open. Don’t get too comfortable with yourself. We have a lot of great backs in the backfield. You have to be on your toes all the time.”

According to Whittle, there’s essentially two RB depth charts: the black (considered the first team) and the garnet (considered the second team). Both remain in flux right now.

Injuries

Deebo Samuel remains in yellow, but was “moving OK” according to David Caraviello. Might be a precautionary measure. Larenz Bryant and Rico Dowdle were both spotted on crutches. K.C. Crosby, Randrecous Davis, Chaz Elder, and Robert Tucker were among others in yellow.

Other notes

Perry Orth and Brandon McIlwain were at QB1 and QB2 today, respectively. One of the players that stood out per reports on the ground was freshman Korey Banks, getting some time with the first team with Samuel (and Edwards) in yellow. Also, WR Kiel Pollard continues to get TE reps. This should give the Gamecocks a pass-catching option at tight end to complement Hayden Hurst and K.C. Crosby, while his size (6’, 232) can be utilized as a blocker up front.