Gamecocks Matthews Selected as One of the Best in SEC

ESPN‘s SEC Blog is giving a rundown of the Top 25 football players in the SEC and a Gamecocks football player has appeared on the list.  Mr. Low has USC DE Cliff Matthews  ranked as the 20th best player in the SEC according to his latest posting in the countdown.

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Here is what Chris Low wrote about him –

“One of the hardest working players in the league, the 6-4, 260-pound Matthews never gives up on a play. It’s a big reason South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier calls Matthews one of his favorite players that he’s ever coached. A second-team All-SEC selection last season by the coaches, Matthews has started in 33 games over his career and racked up 17.5 tackles for loss. He’s as good against the run as he is getting to the passer. Matthews, who started his career as an outside linebacker, has tremendous quickness off the ball, which makes him such an effective pass-rusher. But he also sheds blocks extremely well and doesn’t lose too many one-on-one battles. If you’re looking for big plays, Matthews is your guy. He had two sacks, a fumble recovery and a forced fumble in the upset win over Ole Miss last season. He preserved the win over Kentucky by batting down what would have been the game-tying two-point conversion late in that game. He also had a sack in the win over Clemson to end the regular season. Matthews might have been overshadowed some by Eric Norwood a year ago, but the South Carolina defensive coaches will tell you that Matthews was as valuable as anybody on their roster. He missed the spring while rehabilitating from shoulder surgery, an injury he battled through toward the end of last season. He should be healthy for the fall, though, and is poised to have his best season yet.”

What is your thoughts on that reasoning?

I would have ranked him a little higher than 20th but let’s see who Mr. Low claims is better than Cliff Matthews (wearing number #83 in the pic).  I suspect you will also see a CB Stephon Gilmore somewhere on this list as well.