Next generation meets legendary – South Carolina Gamecocks star Dylan Stewart teams up with one of the greatest in summer workout
South Carolina superstar EDGE Dylan Stewart has been working hard this offseason. The former five-star is in the lab – hoping to have another standout season for a 2025 encore to his breakout freshman performance. Last season, the 6-foot-5, 245 pound Gamecock finished with 34 quarterback hurries, 9.5 tackles for loss, and 6.5 sacks. Now, […]
South Carolina superstar EDGE Dylan Stewart has been working hard this offseason. The former five-star is in the lab – hoping to have another standout season for a 2025 encore to his breakout freshman performance.
Last season, the 6-foot-5, 245 pound Gamecock finished with 34 quarterback hurries, 9.5 tackles for loss, and 6.5 sacks. Now, he is working hard to follow in the footsteps of one of the greats from South Carolina. Literally and figuratively.
Stewart recently posted a photo of him and former Gamecock and current NFL free agent, Jadeveon Clowney.
Dylan Stewart is more concerned with results than accolades. His former teammate, Kyle Kennard, echoed as much.
"Dylan is going to be an all-timer in this sport," Kennard told CBS Sports. "He's an athletic freak, gifted. Once he puts everything together that he needs to, the sky is the limit for that guy."
Stewart has been labeled as a "sicko" by teammates and staff members in Columbia, S.C. Most say he is mostly only about football, he's not worried about outside hobbies or entertainment.
"I don't really do a lot," he says. "My main thing is just playing football."
The comparisons to Clowney are hard to ignore. Like Stewart, Clowney finished his freshman season strong – ending up with eight sacks in 2011. The next season, the former No. 1 overall prospect tallied 13 sacks – setting the South Carolina program record for sacks in a single season.
Stewart has two more years of eligibility which will give him ample time if he wants to make a run at Clowney's career sack record.
In fact, Clowney is rooting for Stewart to break his record for the betterment of the program.
“They’re making USC come back to life,” Clowney told The State last November. "I think he’s pretty good. I think he’s got great speed, great bend. And I can tell he’s been working (on) his moves.”
Pro Football Focus are huge fans of Dylan Stewart.
He came in at No. 9 on PFF's list of college football's Top 50 players.
“Stewart is the most athletic South Carolina edge defender since Jadeveon Clowney was sending helmets flying more than a decade ago. And like Clowney, he has the upside of becoming a No. 1 overall pick.
“The former five-star recruit earned a 91.4 PFF pass-rush grade as just a true freshman, tied for sixth among all college football edge defenders. His 51 pressures tied for the second most among returning Power Four edge rushers. Stewart needs to get stronger to set the edge better in the run game, but he’s already the most fearsome pass rusher in college football.”
There's a ton of buzz about this year's South Carolina team. A lot of the hype is thanks in large part to Stewart. On the offensive side, it's all about quarterback LaNorris Sellers.
He most recently earned a spot on the preseason watch list for the Maxwell Award. Sellers is one of 80 players nominated to the preseason watch list. Last season, the former four-star prospect from just down the road in Florence, S.C., was tabbed as a 2024 Freshman All-American, SEC All-Freshman, and third-team All-SEC.
He threw for 2,534 yards and 18 touchdowns while also adding 674 yards and seven touchdowns on the ground.
