By Jay Berry
South Carolina’s true freshman edge rusher Dylan Stewart is putting together an impressive season.
He has emerged this season as one of the top pass rushers in the SEC and college football. Now he’s landing a seven-figure NIL deal.
Stewart is on target to break Jadeveon Clowney’s South Carolina freshman sack record. Currently, Clowney’s record is at eight. Meanwhile, Stewart has 5 1/2 sacks and four games left. One of the remaining games is against Wofford.
With four games remaining needing only three sacks to break Clowney’s freshman record, and looking at the remaining schedule, I don’t see anything stopping Stewart from getting past eight sacks.
He’s a big reason the South Carolina defense ranks No. 3 in the nation with 31 sacks this season. For the second time this season, Stewart was named the Shaun Alexander Freshman National Player of the Week following his performance in South Carolina’s blowout win against Texas A&M.
Congratulations to Dylan Stewart (@Dylan1Stewart_ ) of South Carolina University. Dylan is this week’s Shaun Alexander Freshman Player of the Week S/O @clownejd @SterlingSharpe_ @sidneyrice #FPOY #AlexanderAward #PrinceOfCollegeFootball #CarrytheCoin #FinishTheGame @GamecockFB… pic.twitter.com/zmhAo6SupR
— Shaun Alexander (@shaunalexander) November 5, 2024
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Jordan Kaye, a sports reporter for The State covering South Carolina sports, has reported that a source close to the situation indicated that Dylan Stewart’s representation is in discussions with South Carolina and the school’s NIL collective, The Garnet Trust, regarding a one-year deal valued at seven figures.
Stewart was a huge recruiting addition for South Carolina as multiple other prominent schools, including SEC member Georgia, were recruiting him.
A former five-star recruit who was ranked as the No. 1 edge rusher in his recruiting class. Stewart has 5.5 sacks, 16 tackles, two forced fumbles, and a fumble recovery so far this season.
The Gamecocks have excelled at the edge position on defense. Not only did South Carolina recruit Stewart, but they also secured Georgia Tech transfer Kyle Kennard, a finalist for the Lombardi Award. This season Kennard ranks second in the SEC with 8.5 sacks and second in the nation with 14 tackles for loss.
While Dylan Stewart is on pace to break Jadeveon Clowney’s freshman sack record, Kennard is targeting Clowney’s single-season sack record of 13.
Kennard will be headed to the NFL this season. At the same time, Stewart is just getting started, not only with impressive numbers as a freshman but also with landing an impressive NIL deal.
