$2.7 Million QB 'Oozing With Potential' For College Football Powerhouse

A quarterback at a Power Four college football program has been described as "oozing with potential" heading into the 2026 season.

South Carolina Gamecocks quarterback Lanorris Sellers (16) looks to pass against the Clemson Tigers | Jeff Blake-Imagn Images

Around six months separate the beginning of March from the beginning of the 2026 college football season.

The 2026 season presents an opportunity for veteran players to grow into more complete products and entice scouts for future NFL drafts. One player looking to fine-tune his craft in 2026 is South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers, who enters his third season as the Gamecocks' starter.

The 6-foot-3, 240-pounder committed to the Gamecocks as a three-star prospect in their 2023 signing class. Spencer Rattler started for South Carolina in 2023, so Sellers used his redshirt. He appeared in three games, completing four passes for 86 yards and two touchdowns while rushing five times for 51 yards and another touchdown.

South Carolina finished 5-7 in 2023, so it needed a big step forward in Sellers' first season as a starter. The Gamecocks improved to 9-4, and Sellers passed for 2,534 yards, 18 touchdowns and seven interceptions and ran for 674 yards and seven touchdowns. The SEC named Sellers its Freshman of the Year and to its All-SEC Third Team and All-Freshman Team.

Alabama Crimson Tide defensive lineman LT Overton (22) dives for South Carolina Gamecocks quarterback LaNorris Sellers (16) | Will McLelland-Imagn Images

Sellers rightfully received attention as a player with explosive potential heading into the 2025 season. The numbers took a slight hit; Sellers finished the season with 2,437 passing yards, 13 touchdown passes and eight interceptions to go with 270 yards and five touchdowns on the ground. The bigger hit came to South Carolina's record, dropping from 9-4 to 4-8 in Sellers' second season as its starter.

Although he has two seasons of eligibility remaining, Sellers enters 2026 in need of a boost to earn back trust from NFL scouts. Adam Kramer of Bleacher Report ranked the 25 best quarterbacks heading into the 2026 college football season, grouping them in five different categories.

Kramer ranked Sellers as the No. 19 quarterback heading into the 2026 season, slotting him in the "oozing with potential" category.

"LaNorris Sellers entered 2025 as one of the most exciting players in football, although the season we expected never materialized at South Carolina," Kramer wrote. "It will be better in 2026, but how much better?"

The other four quarterbacks included in the "oozing with potential" section of Kramer's list were Bear Bachmeier of BYU, Kevin Jennings of SMU, John Mateer of Oklahoma and Rocco Becht of Penn State. Among the quarterbacks who are "oozing with potential," Sellers was the only quarterback to guide his team to fewer than eight wins in 2025.

Per usual, the Gamecocks' non-conference slate is headlined by their end-of-season bout with Clemson.

South Carolina plays four College Football Playoff participants from a season ago on its SEC slate: Alabama, Oklahoma, Texas A&M and Georgia. However, the SEC schedule balances out with games against Mississippi State, Kentucky, Florida and Arkansas, all of which finished 2025 with losing records.

South Carolina Gamecocks quarterback LaNorris Sellers (16) eludes the sack of Kentucky Wildcats defensive back Jordan Lovett (25) | Jeff Blake-Imagn Images