#16

Lanorris Sellers

LaNorris Sellers could have been a first-round pick. Instead he's running it back at South Carolina -- because everyone can see the 242-pound athlete, and almost nobody has seen him throw it consistently yet. That's the bet of his 2026.

QB · South Carolina · So. · #16

CFB Index 52 · #59 of 146 QBsHigh confidenceAll-Conf HMReturning to South Carolina for 2026

The record

All-SEC (SEC)
2025
381 pass yds, 2 pass TD · vs Clemson
Week 14, 2025
274 pass yds, 82 rush yds · vs Coastal Carolina
Week 13, 2025
246 pass yds, 28 rush yds · vs Texas A&M
Week 12, 2025
180 pass yds, -17 rush yds · vs Ole Miss
Week 10, 2025
222 pass yds, 67 rush yds · vs Alabama
Week 9, 2025

The story

He entered 2025 with No. 1-overall buzz and left it with questions: 2,437 passing yards, 13 touchdowns against eight interceptions, 270 yards and five scores on the ground -- on a team that went 4-8. The tools are undeniable (6-3, 242, the inevitable Cam Newton comparison), and he bet on them, forgoing the 2026 NFL Draft to come back. South Carolina answered by hiring Kendal Briles to install a free-flowing Air Raid built to unlock exactly his kind of athlete from a too-structured scheme. The forward stakes are the leap that defines his career: the legs are already elite, so 2026 is about the throws -- cleaner pocket play, fewer sacks, more consistency. Do that, and the No. 1-pick conversation comes back. Don't, and he's the cautionary tale of a freak who never learned to pass.

Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology