South Carolina Football: What do we know about Ryan Hilinski?

Who is Ryan Hilinski? Breaking down the new quarterback for South Carolina football after the an injury has sidelined Jake Bentley indefinitely.

In Week 1, the South Carolina Gamecocks suffered a terrible loss to North Carolina. A lot of the fanbase and media put the blame squarely on the shoulders of starting quarterback, Jake Bentley.

Rightfully so or not, the fans have come out in Twitter droves and demanded a change. Monday morning, an injury to Bentley’s left foot was reported with the news that he would be out indefinitely.

Whether it was the way Gamecock fans wanted it or not, thus begins the Ryan Hilinski era in South Carolina football.

What do we know about Ryan Hilinski?

No doubt, Gamecock fans have heard the name. Most even know that he was ranked No. 66 in the ESPN 300 rankings for the class of 2019. Outside of that, the typical fan probably just knows he wears the No. 3 and is second on the depth chart at the quarterback spot. You may have also heard the tragic and touching story of his family but I’m not going into that in this article. I’d like to focus purely on who Ryan is and what he can do. Click here if you’ve been living under a rock and need to hear the family’s story.

So, who wanted him besides the Gamecocks?

Ryan chose South Carolina over 11 other Power Five programs. This list included Missouri, Ole Miss and Texas A&M from the SEC. Other prominent programs that currently sit in the top 25 included were Oregon, Stanford, Utah and Washington State. He chose the Gamecocks early on and stuck by his decision throughout the rest of his high school career, without wavering on the Gamecocks one single time.

Athletic ability

Hilinski clocked in at just under five seconds in the 40-yard dash. He isn’t a sprinter, by any means, but he has enough athleticism to get a few yards if the pocket breaks down. He ranked 37.5 out of 45 on the power throw testing, which is in the upper percentile of players coming in with the 2019 class.

Body type

Hilinski stands 6-foot-4 and weighs 222 pounds. He has the body build of a prototypical NFL quarterback. His body type will allow him to take the pounding that the SEC can dish out sometimes, and keep on moving.

High school numbers

In his senior season at Orange (Calif.) Lutheran High School, Hilinski had impressive numbers. He threw for over 251 yards per game, had 29 passing touchdowns and completed 64 percent of his passes. In his high school career, he amassed 8,102 passing yards and he threw 74 touchdown passes to only 24 interceptions. A 3-1 touchdown-to-interception rate is pretty good for a high school kid who was asked to throw the ball four passes just shy of 1,000 times in his career.

Style of play

Ryan is a true pocket passer. In fact, he was rated as the No. 2 pocket passer in the nation by most recruiting outlets. Look for him to stand tall, step up in the pocket when necessary and use his whole body to sling the ball. He has the arm strength to put it anywhere on the field.

The area where most Gamecocks have given Bentley criticism for was his touch. Go watch any of Ryan’s highlight videos and I think you will be pleasantly surprised by his ability to float the ball over the shoulder.

It was really tough to see such a great representative of the university in Bentley go out with injury. However, people should be buzzing about the future of the program in Hilinski’s hands. If you can find the game on television Saturday at noon, you should watch the new era in Gamecock football being ushered into existence.