Last week, three star safety Emory Floyd committed to South Carolina. At the time he committed, he was a four star recruit according to 247sports.
Despite his star falling off for no reason at all, Floyd was a big time pickup by Shane Beamer and his staff. So what does the Georgia native have to offer?
It helps to get any recruits for the secondary because that’s the biggest area of concern for South Carolina. Jaycee Horn and Israel Mukuamu left, so South Carolina has very limited options at safety. R.J. Roderick and Jaylin Dickerson will most likely be the starting safeties this year, and Roderick is a senior so the Gamecocks will need even more help for 2022.
Floyd is a safety who plays a lot like a linebacker. While he’s solid in coverage, his ability to be a box safety is really what stands out. He’s not the biggest guy at six feet and 165 pounds, but he’s strong enough to make the tackles he needs.
I like to describe him as a heat-seeking missile because he really looks like one out on the field. His play recognition is insane.
Good luck throwing a wide receiver screen against Floyd because he’ll make the tackle before the receiver turns around. He doesn’t blitz much, so he always stays at the second level. His speed is good enough to keep up with a ball carrier, and he doesn’t get his ankles broken.
The interesting part is even though he’s a safety, his latest tape has him playing as an outside cornerback in practice. He reminded me a lot of Jaycee Horn in coverage because of his ability to keep up with the receiver. He could be good as an outside corner, but he does get too handsy in coverage.
It’ll be interesting to see how Beamer uses Floyd, but there’s a lot of potential there. He needs to get a little stronger to excel as a box safety at the college level. He has a good ability to play cornerback, but he needs to work on not being as handsy.
Luckily, these are both easy fixes before he even becomes a freshman.