Yahoo Sports Marcellas Dial, Nick Gargiulo latest Gamecocks to get drafted
He wasn’t quite Mr. Irrelevant, but he was close.
The second-to-last player taken in the 2024 NFL Draft was South Carolina offensive lineman Nick Gargiulo, whom the Broncos selected in the seventh round with pick No. 256.
Gargiulo transferred to South Carolina from Yale for the 2023 season and started every game for the Gamecocks. Playing on an offensive line that endured a ridiculous amount of injuries, Gargiulo was Mr. Versatile, asked to move all over the place.
He spent some time at guard but lined up at center for the final five games, and played through injuries to make sure he was blocking for quarterback Spencer Rattler.
Gargiulo was so well respected at South Carolina that he was named a team captain just months after arriving in South Carolina.
South Carolina CB Marcellas Dial drafted by Patriots in 6th round
In the sixth round of the draft, the New England Patriots selected former South Carolina cornerback Marcellas Dial with the 180th overall pick.
He’s was the third Gamecock to be selected. On Thursday, wide receiver Xavier Legette snuck into the first round when the Carolina Panthers traded up to take the big-bodied pass catcher. Then on Saturday, after a surprising fall, quarterback Spencer Rattler was finally selected in the fifth round by the New Orleans Saints.
And then came Dial, who was hit-or-miss on a lot of mock drafts leading into the draft, even after going to the NFL Combine and running a 4.46-second 40-yard dash.
Dial, a Woodruff, S.C. native, could have used his COVID season to return to Columbia in 2025 but decided to enter his name in the draft. Over the past three seasons at South Carolina, he started 29 games (including every game last season). He made 114 tackles, defended 31 passes and picked off a trio of passes.
He will likely be remembered for the final interception of his college career.
His pick of Clemson QB DJ Uiagalelei late in the 2022 Palmetto Bowl — a game where Dial also had four passes defended — was key in sealing the Gamecocks’ 31-30 victory over the eighth-ranked Tigers.
