The Final Cockdown: Darius English

Darius English

RS Senior

Defensive End

6-6/245

Powder Springs, GA

Recruitment

Considered a three star recruit, Darius’ recruitment came down to choosing between the Arkansas Razorbacks and our South Carolina Gamecocks. English eventually chose to come to Columbia and play for then head coach Steve Spurrier.

He also recorded 21 sacks in his senior season of high school en route to winning the AJC’s AAAAA Defensive Player of the Year honors in Georgia.

College Career

Darius had some buzz around him when he arrived on campus in 2012. A fairly coveted high school recruit, Darius has largely failed to live up to his potential as a pure pass rusher. Whether he had trouble gaining adequate weight to play in the SEC, or the fact that he played for a largely incompetent defensive staff, Darius has struggled to make a consistent impact on the defensive line. However, to his credit, Darius led the team last year with 4.5 sacks and 6 tackles for loss.

2016 Outlook

With defensive mastermind Will Muschamp at the helm, expect for Darius to make his biggest impact yet. In fact, Darius is expected to play one of the more versatile positions in Coach Muschamp’s defensive scheme as the “Buck.” The Buck will likely line up all around the field, both standing up and in a 3 point stance. So it will be interesting to see how Darius adapts to a new role in the new Gamecock defense.