Kyle Kennard, Dylan Stewart elevated USC’s edge position. Top freshmen ready to join in
Among the seven defensive starters South Carolina is losing in 2025, perhaps none will leave more of a dent than Kyle Kennard.
Which is incredible, considering he was a Gamecock for less than 12 months — enrolling as a Georgia Tech transfer in January and declaring for the NFL Draft in December. In between, he turned in one of the best defensive seasons in program history, narrowly missing out on a few school records held by the best defender in school history, Jadeveon Clowney.
Kennard finished with 11.5 sacks and 15.5 tackles for loss, earning the Bronco Nagurski Award winner, given to the nation’s top defensive player, and becoming a unanimous All-American.
What he also did was bring glory and attention to South Carolina pass rushers. Along with true freshman edge Dylan Stewart (6.5 sacks, 10.5 TFLs), the Gamecocks were armed with the baddest defensive ends in the SEC — game wreckers that turned South Carolina’s defense into an entertaining spectacle.
What this season also did was make it so appealing to be a South Carolina pass rusher, to join assistant coach Sterling Lucas’ position room and develop into the next Kennard.
Enter true freshmen Jaquavious Dodd and Anthony Addison — the highest ranked of South Carolina’s four edge signees in the Class of 2025.
Dodd is a four-star prospect from Eastside High in Taylors, South Carolina, a lengthy 6-foot-5 pass rusher; Addison is a three-star from Sumter High who checks in at 6-3, 210 pounds.
Both watched intently what Kennard and Stewart did this season, excited for what it means for them in 2025 and beyond.
“There’s a lot of eyes on us,” Dodd told The State.
Indeed, there will be. Which shouldn’t be new for Dodd — he’s tough to miss, with an 82-inch wingspan that looks even longer.
Incredibly, he started his high school career at tight end, even showing up to a summer Shane Beamer football camp before his junior season and putting himself in the group of tight ends. Shortly into the camp, Lucas caught a glimpse of Dodd.
“You’re an edge guy,” Lucas told Dodd. “We’re gonna build you.”
He worked with edge rushers the rest of the day and, well, it worked out. His top priority once he enrolls, though, is bulking up from 230 pounds.
“They re gonna get me big,” Dodd said. “And from there, I’m gonna be able to play with the big boys.”
Addison is also heading to South Carolina because of an early encounter with Lucas, who was recruiting Sumter High when he saw Addison as a freshman.
“Some people need a passive coach and some people need a coach that’s gonna be on you,” Addison said. “But I feel like Coach Lucas is right there in the middle. He’s not passive, but he’s not on you too much, either. He’s a relationship guy.”
Throughout this season, the two would talk often. Not the typical recruit-coach conversations about family and future and all that stuff. This was game planning.
Addison would tell his future coach about Sumter’s opponent that week. How its offensive line looked. How he expected the offense to attack. What pass-rush moves he planned on using. The nitty-gritty of the position.
“I’ll just get going on the phone, telling him: ‘Well, this offensive tackle, he’s 6-5, so I think this week I’m gonna use this move,’ ” Addison said. “Then the next week, we’ll have an offensive lineman who’s like 6-3, 270, so instead of using the ghost (move), I’ll probably come through with a swipe.”
Both are expect to start workouts next week, ready to finally be coached by the guy who brought them to South Carolina.
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