COLUMBIA, S.C. — Dylan Stewart will not be a lot of a talker.
The 6-foot-5, 245-pound game-wrecker of a defensive finish is well mannered but quiet if you sit throughout from him contained in the Lengthy Household Soccer Operations Heart. Coaches joke about what number of phrases you’ll get out of him in an interview. There are not any lengthy monologues or trash speaking from the sophomore South Carolina star that CBS Sports activities ranked because the No. 6 participant in all of faculty soccer popping out of the spring.
He would not must boast about his skills when you possibly can simply activate the tape and see what could possibly be a generational expertise. A five-star prospect within the 2024 class out of Washington D.C., Stewart has drawn comparisons to former Gamecocks star and No. 1 general decide Jadeveon Clowney. In simply his first 12 months of faculty soccer, he totaled 6.5 sacks, 9.5 tackles for loss and 34 quarterback hurries. If he retains bettering, he may observe in Clowney’s footsteps and be drafted very excessive within the 2027 NFL Draft.
Kyle Kennard, Stewart’s former working mate at South Carolina and final 12 months’s finest defensive participant because the Nagurski winner, could not have been extra effusive in his reward.
“Dylan goes to be an all-timer on this sport,” Kennard advised CBS Sports activities. “He is an athletic freak, gifted. As soon as he places every thing collectively that he must, the sky is the restrict for that man.”
Quarterback LaNorris Sellers, who fortunately cannot get hit by him however sees his impression daily, described him as “ferocious, vicious.”
Stewart and Sellers are two vital constructing blocks for a South Carolina program that simply missed making final 12 months’s Faculty Soccer Playoff. The 2 budding stars give hope that this 12 months’s workforce could possibly be even higher and capable of recover from the playoff hump. The schedule is arduous — three prime 10 groups in CBS Sports activities’ composite rankings are on the docket — however only a few groups can declare a Heisman Trophy contender (Sellers) and Nagurski Award contender (Stewart) just like the Gamecocks can.
That South Carolina may preserve each after terrific freshman seasons is a credit score to teach Shane Beamer and the remainder of his employees. Stewart and Sellers will every be compensated within the seven-figure vary this season, however with the flurry of cash that flooded the market in December when front-loading and future income share cash supercharged participant compensation, the superstars may have made extra elsewhere. Each program within the nation may use a Stewart.
“Understanding that individuals had been making an attempt to steal them? Yeah completely, that occurred,” Beamer advised CBS Sports activities. “Nervous about dropping them? I wasn’t as a result of not that every thing is ideal right here, however I do know they’re blissful right here and I do know that they know they are often developed right here. The rationale that Dylan selected to return to South Carolina and the rationale that LaNorris selected to return right here out of highschool, these causes are nonetheless right here.”
Stewart by no means critically thought-about leaving, he says, due to the loyalty and connection he feels all through the South Carolina program.
“Cash will not be every thing,” Stewart advised CBS Sports activities. “Cash can typically not make you cheerful. When you have the proper individuals round you, and the proper state of affairs with the correct issues, you will be advantageous.”
Stewart already confronted unprecedented consideration as a freshman from opposing groups. Even with Kennard, who completed with 11.5 sacks final season, on the opposite aspect, Stewart nonetheless repeatedly confronted double groups and even an absurd triple-team in a recreation towards Kentucky that served as his coming-out social gathering.
With out Kennard, these points could possibly be much more pronounced for Stewart although South Carolina is bullish about Bryan Thomas, who had 4.5 sacks final season.
Understanding what’s to return, Stewart has labored on bettering his power, hand placement and stamina so he would not put on down over the course of the season. In his first 12 months transitioning from highschool to the SEC, he may really feel the nicks and bruises over the course of the season and never be fairly as efficient as when he exploded onto the scene with 1.5 sacks in his first collegiate recreation. He is intent on not letting that sluggish him down this 12 months. He needs and expects to be much more disruptive this season.
The scariest factor for opposing groups? He is obsessive about soccer.
Certain, he’ll play the occasional EA Sports activities Faculty Soccer online game, however he is consistently occupied with soccer and dealing on getting higher. There are not any exterior hobbies, simply discovering new methods to aggressively pummel quarterbacks.
“I do not actually do so much,” he says. “My essential factor is simply enjoying soccer.”
On Aug. 31, all Stewart’s offseason work can be on show within the Gamecocks’ season opener towards Virginia Tech.
The Hokies could need to learn up on their historical past to know what to anticipate reverse them. As a result of whereas Teddy Roosevelt absolutely did not have a 6-foot-5 athletic freak in thoughts when he stated it, Stewart embodies the mantra of “Communicate softly and carry an enormous stick.” And this season, he expects to go far.
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