CFB analyst draws major comparisons between Cam Newton and South Carolina star LaNorris Sellers

Comparing anyone to Cam Newton is a dangerous proposition, but On3's JD Pickell believes LaNorris Sellers could very well be worthy of such praise, at least to some degree.

While Pickell was sure to mention how good Newton was back when he played for the Auburn Tigers, he also mentioned something that the South Carolina Gamecocks quarterback has just like the former NFL MVP: the ability to do things no one else on the football field can.

“Cam Newton has one of the best, if not the best, college football season of all time to his name, winning the Heisman and winning the natty,” Pickell said on Thursday (via On3). “But, with that being said, when I watch LaNorris Sellers, I can’t help but have a lot of the same feelings as I did when I watched Cam Newton play quarterback.

“We’ll unpack that a little but Cam Newton, when you watched him ball, he just did things that quarterbacks quite frankly don’t do. The physical presence he has is one thing, but turning negatives into positives is the same thing that I saw Cam Newton do. In a similar fashion, I’m watching LaNorris Sellers do right now at South Carolina.”

As an example, the analyst talked about the regular season finale, when Sellers broke 18 tackles while leading the Gamecocks to a 17-14 victory over the Clemson Tigers.

With LaNorris Sellers under center, South Carolina ended the regular season with six straight wins before losing to the Illinois Fighting Illini in the Citrus Bowl. The Gamecocks ended the season with a 9-4 record and are expected to be in the mix for the SEC title in 2025.

Shane Beamer made sure LaNorris Sellers, Dylan Stewart stayed in Columbia

In today’s college football world, players can seemingly go from one school to another in the blink of an eye. South Carolina coach Shane Beamer opened up to On3’s Pete Nakos on how he kept some top players like LaNorris Sellers and Dylan Stewart in Columbia.

“They didn’t need to go anywhere else to continue to accomplish what they wanted to accomplish here," Beamer said. "They realized that everything we said in the recruiting process, we were going to do and be. That’s who we are. So it was a pretty simple process. We knew early in the season that the key for us was going to be to retain our roster.”

Beamer has turned South Carolina into an SEC title contender four years after arriving in December 2020. Part of staying at the top of the conference is keeping their top players from leaving for other programs.

In that sense, Beamer also fired shots at teams tampering with his players. Several coaches, including Nebraska's Matt Rhule, former Boise State offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter, UConn’s Jim Mora Jr. and Colorado’s Deion Sanders, have complained about schools tampering with players while they are actively part of a program.