One of the last pieces to sign the ink to become a Gamecock, Jaquaze Sorrells should be a great and late addition to the class. Sorrells chose South Carolina over Alabama and Penn State.
When I first started going through his film, Sorrells was really underwhelming in his highlights from The Opening Finals. He was going through 1 on 1 pass blocking drills, which isn’t an amazing indicator of how good a player is in my opinion, and he was just not doing a whole lot.
He had didn’t have a win for my standards for defensive lineman. They were only in helmets and shorts, and anyone can look really bad or really good in helmets and shorts, so I wasn’t too worried.
And just like that, I was right to not be worried.
Once the pads came on, he looked like a different beast. Sorrells showed a really quality bull rush, a good spin move, and he had the ability to make offensive lineman pay for guessing which direction the defensive lineman was going.
He also had great feet and rarely stopped moving, which is a big problem in high school lineman. Jaquaze showed to me that as a freshman, he would be able to a guy who can come in third down and line up at the nose or 3-technique and get after the passer. A quality interior rusher is something South Carolina has been missing for a while, and Sorrells would bring that.
As far as his run stopping talent, the Orlando native is listed at 6’3” and 310 pounds. He obviously has the size to be a player who can be in the rotation as a college freshman on any down for the defense. Whether or not he finds himself in the rotation on 1st and 2nd down isn’t something I can really tell based purely off of high school film, but I could see him breaking in there at some point this season purely based on the lack of depth in the defensive line group.
I honestly would think Jaquaze Sorrells would be a considered a top 150 recruit in the nation if it weren’t for off the field concerns. Add this kid to an already signed defensive line class including Zacch Pickens, Joseph Anderson, Rodricus Fitten, and Devontae Davis, and it may be the best group in the country.
He should be a great addition to the Gamecocks 2019 class.