Brison Williams moves to free, Brown will rotate boundary safeties
The big story among the Gamecocks’ safeties is the loss of last year’s second team All-SEC free safety D.J. Swearinger, who was drafted in the second round of the NFL draft by the Houston Texans.
Filling Swearinger’s shoes will be last year’s strong safety, junior Brison Williams. There was a position battle for strong safety in spring practice that went into the preseason between sophomore T.J. Gurley and junior Kadetrix “J.J.” Marcus.
Marcus emerged as the starter, but he has been battling a sprained knee and missed a lot of preseason practice.
Over the past few days, he started practicing again, and secondary coach Grady Brown said he is moving around well. Marcus will be slated to start, but Brown also said that Gurley will see action as well.
The two will see the field this week in particular, as they will look to keep up with the fast-paced North Carolina offense.
“Their goal is to run 80 plays or more, so everyone will be needed at some point,” Brown said. “So T.J. and J.J. will both get a lot of time.”
Brown said it is possible that Gurley could come in at the nickelback position, because it is similar to the safety position. Brown said that whoever is playing better at the time — Gurley or sophomore cornerback Ahmad Christian — will have the spot during the game.
Williams will take over Swearinger’s role because of the greater responsibility that comes with the position. The boundary safety usually has less ground to cover than the free safety, who is usually the very last line of defense.
Because Williams started last season, he is familiar with the role of every position in the secondary, so he should be able to slip into Swearinger’s spot without much trouble, Brown said.
Redshirt freshman Chaz Elder backs up Williams on the depth chart, but Brown said that if Williams were injured, Gurley would probably be the first to go in at free safety.
The Gamecocks will face several top receivers this season, and they face one right away in the Tar Heels’ Quinshad Davis, a strong 6-4 sophomore.
Davis is good at positioning himself to come up with the ball, and Brown expects him to be a target often.
“They might throw him a few jump balls,” Brown said. “So we have to be ready to make a play.”
That’s something the safeties will have to keep an eye on. On the potential deep balls, Williams and Marcus will have to prove their athleticism to compete with Davis, who is taller.
But it won’t be easy to replace what Swearinger brought to the team. He was responsible for getting the secondary lined up and was one of the most vocal leaders on the defense.
Whether Gurley or Marcus can bring the same type of heat consistently in a game remains to be seen, but overall, Brown said he is pretty confident in his safeties’ ability to make plays.