South Carolina junior defender confirms he’ll leave college early, enter NFL Draft

TJ Sanders made it clear after Tuesday’s Cheez-It Citrus Bowl: His football career at South Carolina is over.

“Oh yeah, I’m gone,” the Gamecocks defensive lineman told reporters after the 21-17 loss to Illinois at Camping World Stadium.

Sanders, a junior, had one more year of eligibility left but is leaving to chase his NFL career. He joins safety Nick Emmanwori as those with eligibility left who are headed for the NFL. Emmanwori only played the first half of Tuesday’s bowl game.

Sanders said he was emotional after the loss but was calmed down by teammate Demetrius Knight.

He signed with South Carolina in 2021 out of Marion High School. He reflected on his time with the Gamecocks after the bowl.

“They brought me in. They were my first offer,” he said. “The loyalty and the trust that they put in me, I just felt that I had to instill back into them and I felt that they did that.”

The 6-foot-4, 290-pounder started and played all four quarters of the bowl game and finished with two tackles. For the season, he finished with a career-high 50 tackles (seven for loss), four sacks and six quarterback hurries.

Sanders played in 39 games in his career and finished with 109 tackles.

A second-team All-SEC selection, Sanders proved himself to be a disruptive force in the trenches — and it seems that NFL teams have taken notice. CBS Sports’ Mike Renner, Chris Trapasso, and Ryan Wilson all have Sanders going in the first round in their latest mock drafts.

If drafted in the first round, he’d be the first Gamecock defensive tackle to go on day one of the draft since Javon Kinlaw in 2020.

Players with eligibility left whose seasons are over have until Jan. 6 to declare for the NFL Draft and have until Feb. 7 to change their minds.

— The State’s Jordan Kaye contributed to this story