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South Carolina makes program history with 2 more players selected in Round 4
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South Carolina football has a solid tradition but nothing like some of its blue blood SEC rivals.
But at the 2025 NFL Draft in Green Bay, South Carolina players were in demand like never before through the first 4 rounds of this weekend’s event. With 2 more Gamecocks being taken off the board in Round 4 on Saturday afternoon, South Carolina saw 5 of its players taken in the first 4 rounds of a draft for the first time in program history.
Former South Carolina edge Kyle Kennard was taken by the Los Angeles Chargers in the fourth round with the 125th overall pick. And 10 picks later, at No. 135, former Gamecocks star defensive tackle Tonka Hemingway was selected by the Las Vegas Raiders, setting the South Carolina record for 4 rounds.
On Friday night, safety Nick Emmanwori got the South Carolina draft party started by being picked early in the second round at No. 35 by the Seattle Seahawks. Just 6 picks later at No. 41, former South Carolina defensive tackle TJ Sanders was grabbed by the Buffalo Bills. And the Cincinnati Bengals gave the Gamecocks 3 picks alone in the second round by selecting linebacker Demetrius Knight Jr. with the 49th overall pick.
With those 3 picks in the second round on Day 2 and 2 more selections in the 4th round on Day 3, South Carolina had done the kind of NFL Draft damage usually reserved for those SEC rivals with the steep tradition. In the 2025 draft, South Carolina football talent has been coveted like never before, and there were still 3 more rounds to go on Saturday.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
