South Carolina Football: Gamecocks trending with 4-star QB Tanner Bailey

South Carolina has had some drama with quarterback recruiting in 2022 but the Gamecocks are emerging as the favorite to get four-star QB Tanner Bailey.

Just like in the NFL, there is definitely a carousel of sorts when it comes to recruiting the quarterback position and you can see the ripple effects from the commitment of five-star signal-caller Ty Simpson to Alabama on Friday.

Simpson is ranked as the No. 27 overall recruit in the class of 2022 according to the 247 sports composite rankings and is one of the top pro-style quarterbacks in the entire class.

Alabama was the winner of that recruitment. Clemson whiffed after being the one-time crystal ball leader for Simpson.

Yet, it didn’t take the Tigers long to rebound as they offered top-100 quarterback Cade Klubnik, who is out of Austin, Texas, and almost immediately, recruiting experts starting predicting that he would wind up with the Tigers.

But, Klubnik isn’t the only quarterback that started trending with crystal ball projections from 247 sports’ recruiting experts, and another four-star, Tanner Bailey started doing the same with South Carolina football in what appears to be the next shoe to drop.

The first projections of Bailey to South Carolina came on Friday night after Alabama was able to get Simpson. Bailey is impacted because he also had an offer from Alabama, among a number of other offers including Auburn, as well as a slew of SEC schools and national powers.

So when Simpson went to Alabama, that effectively took Bailey out as a possible quarterback from the Crimson Tide in 2022, and now, the Gamecocks who have been pushing for Bailey under new head coach Frank Beamer, look to be the beneficiary.

Four recruiting analysts from 247 sports have now projected Bailey, a 6-foot-1, 195-pound quarterback to South Carolina football.

Obviously, it hurt that five-star quarterback Gunner Stockton was once committed to the Gamecocks and flipped over to Georgia once the coaching change happened.

Bailey isn’t rated nearly as high as Stockon, the 20th-ranked player overall in the 2022 class and the top-ranked dual-threat QB.

But, Bailey would be a really solid get for South Carolina and is rated 219th overall, as well as the No. 9 pro-style quarterback. Oregon and Mississippi State are among the teams in the mix and pushing the hardest for his commitment.

But right now, it looks like Bailey will be staying in SEC country and the Alabama prospect is trending heavily in the direction of South Carolina football.