Sterling Lucas raves about Dylan Stewart, potential of Gamecocks edge rushers

Sterling Lucas gave Dylan Stewart some homework over the summer before preseason practice begins next week.

Lucas, South Carolina’s defensive ends coach, gave the Gamecocks’ highest-ranked prospect of the Class of 2024 some videos of NFL players Myles Garrett (Cleveland Browns), Rashan Gary (Green Bay Packers) and Montez Sweat (Chicago Bears) to watch as he prepares for his first college season.

South Carolina begins practice Aug. 2.

“I gave him a couple guys to watch,” Lucas said Thursday at Birdies with Beamer. “Myles Garrett is a freak of nature, but those are some NFL guys that come to mind with his NFL body type. I think (Stewart) is the ultimate competitor. He wants to be great and is a guy who doesn’t mind being pushed to be great. It takes a lot of work to get it done.

“.... You can see the fire in his eyes. He wants to be great. He wants to be in the NFL and wants to win championships.”

Stewart was a five-star recruit coming out of the Washington, D.C., area, the highest-ranked prospect in the Shane Beamer era and third highest in program history behind Jadeveon Clowney and Jordan Burch. 247Sports Composite ranked him as the No. 2 defensive prospect in the country.

Stewart drew strong reviews during spring practice from Lucas and head coach Shane Beamer, who was asked about the talented freshman again during Thursday’s news conference. Stewart posted a picture of his body transformation with his chiseled frame from when he arrived on campus in January until now.

“You can see from that picture the work he has put in,” Beamer said of Stewart. “And not just him, there is a lot of guys that have posted pics like that that put in the work. Credit our strength staff, nutrition staff and training stuff because it all ties together. … Like any freshman that comes out of high school, you are going to get into a good nutrition program, better strength and conditioning program and right away there is going to be some pretty natural and evident gains. It certainly was with him. And he is a guy who went through spring practice and will be so much better for it now.”

While it is uncertain whether Stewart will be in the starting lineup for the opener against Old Dominion on Aug. 31, he definitely should have a prominent role in the defensive end rotation. Stewart is the youngest of the group and there are a lot of veterans in the group that Lucas spoke highly of, including transfers Gilber Edmond and Kyle Kennard.

Edmond is back at USC, where he played from 2020-2022. He played last season at Florida State and had 23 tackles and a sack. Kennard also was in the Atlantic Coast Conference last season with Georgia Tech.

Kennard had 54 tackles last season, 11 for loss and six sacks, although Lucas said he could have easily reached double digits after watching his film.

“I am very excited about Kyle,” Lucas said. “... He is a really good pass rusher but he is physical in the run game as well, which I don’t think a lot of people knew that.

“And Gilber, he is a totally different guy coming back from Florida State and being with him two years ago. His focus and maturity. He is great for the room and he is pushing on guys.”

Others who should contribute are Desmond Umeozulu, Elijah Davis, Bryan Thomas and Jatius Geer, who missed time last season with a foot injury.

“We got seven guys and all those guys are capable of playing on Saturday,” Lucas said. “We have a lot of competition in our room. Those guys are ready to rock.”

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