Alright, let’s talk about how I went about figuring out the Gamecock depth chart for 2023. Football season rolls around, and you always wanna know who’s gonna be out there, right? So, that was my starting point.
Getting Started – The Hunt
First thing I did, pretty simple really, was just jump online. Fired up the computer and started searching. Typed in stuff like “Gamecocks football depth chart 2023” or “South Carolina football roster 2023”. You get a bunch of results, obviously.
You see links from all sorts of places. Official team athletics sites, big sports news places, fan forums, blogs, you name it. Had to sift through that a bit.
Sorting Through the Noise
My approach is usually to look for the more reliable sources first. I tend to trust the official university athletics page, though sometimes they can be slow to update or keep it vague until close to game day. Then you got your major sports networks, you know the ones. They usually have reporters covering the team, so their info can be pretty solid.
I skipped over most of the random forum posts initially. Sometimes you find good nuggets there later, but for the first look, I wanted something a bit more established.
- Checked the official team site.
- Looked at a couple of major sports news outlets that cover college football heavily.
- Glanced at some dedicated Gamecock sports news sites – the ones run by local reporters or established fan networks.
Putting the Pieces Together
So, I started opening these pages up. What you find is that early on, especially before fall camp really gets going, things can be a bit different from site to site. One place might list one guy as a starter at wide receiver, another site might have someone else penciled in.
This is pretty normal. Coaches are still figuring things out, players are competing. What I did was look for consistency. Who was showing up as the starter or key backup across multiple reliable sources? That gave me a better baseline idea.
I wasn’t just looking at the chart itself, either. I read some of the articles that came with them. They often talk about position battles, injuries, or guys who stood out in practice. That context helps make sense of the chart.
Realizing It’s Fluid
The big thing I always keep in mind is that these depth charts aren’t set in stone. Especially the ones you find before the season even starts. They are basically educated guesses based on spring practice, returning players, and new recruits.
Once the season gets going, things change weekly. Injuries pile up, maybe a freshman surprises everyone, or a veteran slips up. So, the depth chart I looked at in August wasn’t necessarily the exact lineup for the first game, let alone for games later in the season.
My Final Takeaway (for my own notes)
After looking through a few sources and reading up a bit, I had a decent picture. I noted down the key spots – who looked locked in at QB, how the offensive line was shaping up, any big question marks on defense. Didn’t treat it as gospel, more like a snapshot in time. It was about getting a feel for the team heading into the season. That’s usually my process – search, filter, compare, read the context, and remember it can change.
