T.J. Sanders

TJ Sanders played his high school football at Marion High School. In his junior season, he tallied 26 tackles with five TFL and two sacks. He helped Marion HS to a Class 2A state championship game as a senior in 2020 and was named the HSSR-SCHSL AA Defensive Player of the Year with his performance. He earned Three-star recruit ratings from ESPN, Rivals.com and 247Sports and chose to play his college football close to home at South Carolina, choosing the Gamecocks over several other power five offers. In his first season at South Carolina in 2021, Sanders played in just two games and had no stats to show. He redshirted that season and earned more snaps in his second season, appearing in 12 of South Carolina’s 13 games and recorded 16 tackles, one TFL and one sack. He showed enough in his limited snaps to earn a much larger role in the Gamecocks' defense coming into this season. In 2023, Sanders has played in each of the Gamecocks’ 12 games, starting in 10 of them. He has registered 43 tackles, 9.5 TFL, and 4.5 sacks. He has been one of the best weapons on the defensive line for South Carolina and has gained attention of scouts with his possibly already NFL-ready skill set.