The South Carolina Gamecocks picked up their 5th verbal commitment of the 2017 cycle on Saturday when three-star Laurens offensive tackle Summie Carlay announced via Twitter that he was a Gamecock during his on-campus visit.
I'm a Gamecock #SpursUp #ETD #musCHAMP #ELLIOTT pic.twitter.com/5SgZuQRIxx
— Summie Carlay (@CarlaySummie) March 19, 2016
Carlay, whose only other offer to this point was from NC State, was personally offered by offensive line coach Shawn Elliott during the Gamecocks Junior Day back in February. South Carolina had been trending with Carlay for some time but he made things official today after checking out the campus and the academic side of things.
At 6'5 and 265 lbs. Carlay moves pretty well for someone his size and shows good lateral quickness to stay in front of defensive ends on passing plays. He does a good job of maintaining leverage while engaged with defensive players and takes good angles when blocking in the run game. There are also several plays on film where Carlay is pulling from his right tackle spot or getting to the second level to block linebackers and he looks very comfortable doing both. One thing you notice on his tape is that he always plays to the whistle and often blocks his man into the ground and then some. That tenacity is something the Gamecocks can certainly use on future lines.
Carlay will need to bulk up some before he's ready to contribute, so expect him to redshirt his first year on campus, but with his frame and flexibility he has good upside and is a nice pick up for Will Muschamp and Co. Carlay is also an example of better evaluating and attention to detail by the new staff. Here is a kid that didn't have a ton of offers but the coaches liked on film, got in with early, offered before other schools and, as a result, locked up. They got a nice player for the future simply by combing their own backyard better and that's a very positive sign for future recruiting.
Here's Carlay's Junior Hudl highlights: