South Carolina Gamecocks in Awkward Position for 2026 Quarterback Class

The South Carolina Gamecocks are in an awkward position for the 2026 quarterback class.

With five-star Jared Curtis off the board now, other quarterback dominoes are expected to fall in the 2026 recruiting class. Ryder Lyons is nearing a decision, Landon Duckworth continues to weigh his options and Bowe Bentley is finalizing his decision as well.

For the South Carolina Gamecocks though, they are kind of stuck in the middle and are in an awkward position for the 2026 quarterback class right now.

At first, it seemed like Duckworth was going to be the Gamecocks' guy. Then, Curtis reopened his recruitment, and the Gamecocks got involved. South Carolina was set to host Curtis later in the year and then the top prospect trimmed his list down to Oregon and Georgia and left South Carolina out of it.

Then Brady Smigiel looked like another option for the Gamecocks. They were heavily involved in that one and they were interested, but he ultimately chose to go to Michigan.

So now it seems like South Carolina is really banking on Duckworth joining the class. He is set to visit the Gamecocks on June 6th, but the Ole Miss Rebels get the final last visit on June 20th and that appears to be where Duckworth is leaning towards right now.

It's likely that South Carolina only gets one more season out of LaNorris Sellers at quarterback, which means they could be finding a new starter next season. Air Noland and Cutter Woods are on the roster, but they probably would like to add another scholarship arm into the room ahead of the 2026 season.

The Duckworth recruitment just got massive for the Gamecocks, so fans will have to see if Shane Beamer and his staff can close strong and swipe him away from the Rebels.