{"id":647950,"date":"2026-05-17T04:11:19","date_gmt":"2026-05-17T04:11:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/647950\/"},"modified":"2026-05-17T04:11:19","modified_gmt":"2026-05-17T04:11:19","slug":"south-carolina-star-listed-as-top-five-returner-in-college-football","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/647950\/","title":{"rendered":"South Carolina star listed as top five returner in college football"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>When it comes to a discussion on college football\u2019s top-end talent, South Carolina has multiple seats at the table. The 2026 edition of the Gamecocks has several players generating significant offseason buzz for postseason award lists, early selection in the 2027 NFL Draft, or both. Because of that, it is no surprise that players donning garnet and black continue popping up during this offseason\u2019s \u201clist season.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The latest came on Saturday. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.on3.com\/news\/heisman-favorites-draft-locks-and-one-alien-the-10-best-returning-players-in-2026\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">On3\u2019s Ari Wasserman ranked his top 10 college football returners<\/a> ahead of the 2026 season, including a South Carolina star. Coming in at No. 5 on Wasserman\u2019s list was elite EDGE player Dylan Stewart.<\/p>\n<p>The Insiders Forum: <a href=\"https:\/\/gcon3.com\/PxLAJ8\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Discuss South Carolina football<\/a>!<\/p>\n<p>He ranks as the third-highest defender and second-highest pass rusher on Wasserman\u2019s list. Stewart trails only Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, Notre Dame defensive back Leonard Moore, Miami wide receiver Malachi Toney, and Texas EDGE Colin Simmons.<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps forgetting about Stewart\u2019s injury issues last season, Wasserman critiqued his production (\u201conly having 4.5 sacks in 2025\u201d) but still views the junior as a \u201csure-fire top-10 pick in next year\u2019s NFL Draft\u201d and rhetorically asked if the former five-star is even human.<\/p>\n<p>Stewart\u2019s high ranking was a given. The 6-5, 245-pound game-wrecker impossible combines elite movement ability with impressive point-of-attack strength. He is the best speed rusher in the sport, but he has plenty of instances on film in which he has whipped double-teams, too.<\/p>\n<p>In two collegiate seasons, Stewart has earned All-SEC honors both years and has picked up Honorable Mention All-American recognition both years. His presence has helped his defensive end running mate in both 2024 and 2025, as well. Bryan Thomas Jr. and Kyle Kennard earned All-SEC nods alongside him, and Kennard won the Nagurski Trophy.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.on3.com\/teams\/south-carolina-gamecocks\/join\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Get GamecockCentral for $1. As a bonus, your membership includes a complimentary year of The Athletic.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>In some ways, Stewart\u2019s statistical output didn\u2019t match his impact last fall. As Wasserman mentioned, he only logged 4.5 sacks. However, those numbers came with Stewart missing one full game with injuries and more than half of another. He also played in at least four other contests while dealing with those injuries.<\/p>\n<p>Even so, No. 6 had three forced fumbles in 2025 and 12 tackles for loss. He was one of just 12 players in college football to register at least 37 pressures on fewer than 260 pass rush snaps. Despite his injuries, Stewart was extremely disruptive.<\/p>\n<p>If Stewart\u2019s ailing back and hip become things of the past, South Carolina football fans can expect a huge year. He remains one of the top players in the country and should have another major impact for the 2026 Gamecocks.<\/p>\n<p>The On3 Impact Rankings are even higher on Stewart than Wasserman. Headed up by Clark Brooks, the impact rankings like Stewart as college football\u2019s No. 3 player and top defender.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When it comes to a discussion on college football\u2019s top-end talent, South Carolina has multiple seats at the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":647951,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[399,398,396,397,99],"class_list":["post-647950","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ncaa-football","tag-football","tag-ncaa","tag-ncaa-football","tag-ncaafootball","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/647950","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=647950"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/647950\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/647951"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=647950"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=647950"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=647950"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}