South Carolina is now five days into its 2026 preseason camp and the weekly questions about the status of EDGE Dylan Stewart and OL Jacarrius Peak continued.
Head coach Shane Beamer was asked about the overall health of his team during a Tuesday press conference and shared a brief update on Stewart and Peak.
“Nah, normal bumps and bruises,” Beamer said when asked if the team had any new injuries. “A couple of things that flared up today — want to get a full report before we update anything. The two you’re mainly interested in, Peak and Dylan, continue to progress. And then, it’s that time of year in preseason camp, so.”
Beamer shared last week as camp began that neither Stewart nor Peak would be full-go as the Gamecocks opened preseason ball. And neither was spotted practicing during the brief open portions of practice on Friday and Saturday.
But Beamer has remained confident throughout the offseason that both would be back and suited up for South Carolina this season.
“They’re at practice and they’re doing different parts of what they’re able to throughout the day,” Beamer added on Tuesday. “As far as the timeline, again, we’ll go on what the doctors tell us, and as I’ve said to you guys for the last month, they’re right on track and progressing nicely.”
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Entering his junior season with the Gamecocks, Stewart has recorded 56 career tackles, including 22.5 tackles for loss, 11 sacks and 6 forced fumbles. The 6-foot-5, 250-pounder played in 11 games last season and finished with 33 tackles and 4.5 sacks. However, he played through a back injury that limited his production for most of the second half of the year.
Peak, a redshirt senior transfer from NC State, spent the last four seasons with the Wolfpack, where he played in 38 games and made 32 starts. After redshirting as a freshman in 2022, he became a consistent starter on the offensive line over the next three seasons, playing more than 2,200 snaps.
Peak comes to South Carolina as an offensive tackle after making 14 starts at left tackle and 18 at right tackle. He was ranked as the No. 1 offensive tackle and No. 3 overall player in this offseason’s transfer portal cycle, per On3’s rankings.
Shortly after transferring, the 6-foot-4, 305-pound lineman injured his knee playing basketball during a team event in February. As a result, he missed all of spring practice with the Gamecocks.
Beamer mentioned last week that several others were out as camp began.
Of course, there’s returning offensive tackle Josiah Thompson, who’s out for the year as he recovers from knee surgery. Redshirt freshman linebacker Josh Smith, who was injured in the spring, is currently out. Redshirt freshman wide receiver Jackson Repp will be out for the season.
South Carolina opened preseason camp last Friday. The Gamecocks open their season on Sept. 5 against Kent State.