Jackson Fields

I’m back with my fourth favorite Gamecock this week, and another player who was instrumental in leading some of the best football in Carolina history. Lane Kiffin once told Alshon Jeffery that if he went to South Carolina, he would be “pumping gas for a living”. What an idiot he is. It is kind of ironic that Jeffery has a super bowl ring and Kiffin is coaching Florida Atlantic.

Doesn’t look like pumping gas to me, Lane

The Stats

Enough about Lane Kiffin, Alshon was unstoppable in college. He had a solid freshman season in 2009 with 46 catches, 763 yards, and six touchdowns. His best season came as a sophomore when he finished as a Biletnikoff Award Finalist which was well deserved after 88 catches, 1,517 yards, and nine touchdowns. During the upset of #1 Alabama, he had one of the best games I’ve ever seen a Gamecock play.

He finished with 7 receptions, 127 yards, and two TD’s

When Stephen Garcia was at Quarterback, he seemed to throw to Alshon on almost every play. Once Garcia was benched and later kicked off the team, Jeffery’s numbers took a dip and were similar his junior year to those of his freshman year.

Although he had an unspectacular final season, he finished out his career with a bang in the bowl game.

He subsequently got kicked out of the game for fighting with the Nebraska Cornerback (he totally would’ve won if it wasn’t broken up), and that was his last moment in a Gamecock uniform.

Life in the NFL

Inexplicably, six receivers were taken before him in the 2012 NFL Draft. Those six were Justin Blackmon, Michael Floyd, Kendall Wright, AJ Jenkins, Brian Quick, and Stephen Hill. Safe to say those weren’t great selections. Blackmon hasn’t played since 2013 because of suspensions, Floyd had 100 yards on the season in 2018, Wright is a free agent and has never been anything but mediocre, Jenkins had 17 career catches, Quick has a little over 1,500 yards in seven seasons, and Hill only played two seasons.

Should’ve been a first round pick on this picture alone

6,000 yards and 40 TDs later, it’s clear NFL front offices made a big mistake on this one. Alshon is WR-1 in that draft class, and he should’ve been coming out of college. South Carolina fans could’ve told you that, though.

I’ll be back with another entry into this series next week! If you have any comments hit me up on Twitter @jacksonfields15.