FootyChatter.com

NFL La Norris Sellers is expected to head into his third season as South Carolina's starter. David Jensen / Getty Images By Nick Baumgardner, Dane Brugler and Sam Khan Jr. Quarterback La Norris Sellers will return to South Carolina for the 2026 season, according to multiple reports Saturday, a decision that could cause a significant ripple effect throughout both college football and the NFL Draft. The 20-year-old Sellers has thrown for 2, 437 yards, 13 touchdowns and eight interceptions and has rushed for 270 yards and five TDs as a redshirt sophomore. That rushing total is down significantly from Sellers’ breakout 2024 season (674 yards), in which he helped South Carolina to a 9-4 record and  top-20 finish. This season, while playing behind a porous offensive line, Sellers and his team were not able to build on that success. The Gamecocks finished just 4-8, including a 1-7 mark in SEC play. Advertisement Even so, The Athletic’s NFL Draft expert Dane Brugler recently had Sellers ranked as the No. 15 prospect in the 2026 NFL Draft class, although Brugler noted in a mock draft earlier this month that Sellers was “expected to return to school. ” Retaining their star QB is a huge boon for South Carolina, which obviously will be aiming to turn around its fortunes next season. It’s a setback, however, for schools hoping to target Sellers in the transfer portal and for any NFL teams crossing their fingers for added depth in the upcoming draft class. Despite a mostly disappointing 2025 campaign, Sellers was still in the first-round mix for the 2026 NFL Draft, because of his impressive skill set for a 20-year-old QB. However, returning to college always was the most likely outcome. Seemingly, the bigger question was: Would Sellers stay home with the Gamecocks or come to the conclusion that a different situation was best for him? We don’t know how much of a push (if any) programs such as Miami, LSU or others with a perceived need at quarterback made for Sellers. But it is fair to assume that South Carolina pitched a plan to surround Sellers with a better situation in 2026. Newly hired offensive coordinator Kendal Briles doesn’t have a track record of developing quarterbacks for the NFL, but his proven ability to build offensive structure around the strengths of the quarterback is a positive first step. More importantly, however, the Gamecocks must upgrade the talent around Sellers for this to work. Let’s hope for Sellers’ sake that they don’t blow their entire NIL budget on the quarterback alone. When studying the Gamecocks’ offense this past season, it felt like Sellers was the entire team. That’s not to absolve the QB from all the issues South Carolina faced offensively, but the blocking (specifically, the pass protection) and inconsistency from the pass catchers felt like anchors. How can the offensive infrastructure evolve in a way that means it doesn’t ask the quarterback to pull a rabbit out of his helmet on every play? Advertisement NFL scouts still view Sellers as a talent who ultimately can become a top-five pick. Time will tell if South Carolina pushes the right buttons to help him realize that potential. — Brugler LET IT FLY, LANORRIS! pic. twitter. com/a Hs4S2CAj5 — South Carolina Football (@Gamecock FB) November 29, 2025 Sellers was the most physically intriguing quarterback who could have joined the 2026 NFL Draft, even if he’s probably not ready for the league just yet. The decision to go back to school for another year feels like a wise one for the 6-foot-3, 240-pounder, as his tantalizing gifts aren’t going anywhere. He needs more work as a pocket passer before we can call him ready to lead an NFL team. There is so much to like here, though, and not just athletically. Sellers has shown great improvement during his time at South Carolina with regard to his processing, pocket awareness and overall consistency. The problem in 2025, as Dane mentioned above, was that it became difficult to determine whether Sellers’ struggles statistically were because of his play or a lack of help. He constantly had to scramble for his life, without any type of consistent run game to take the heat off of him. The offense he played in was a Cheesecake Factory situation — big menu, no signature dishes, empty calories. If South Carolina can find a way to help Sellers, he could be the No. 1 pick in the 2027 draft. He’s that gifted. If it’s more of the same next season, however, we’ll be talking about a similar problem in trying to evaluate him. — Nick Baumgardner, NFL draft analyst There were quarterback-needy schools that were believed to be interested in targeting Sellers, had he entered the transfer portal. Miami, which will lose sixth-year senior Carson Beck to exhausted eligibility, was one of them. The Hurricanes have had great success with transfer quarterbacks in recent years, taking in Beck, Cam Ward and D’Eriq King. Advertisement With Sellers staying at South Carolina and Cal freshman Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele announcing last week that he’s returning to Cal, two of the quarterbacks who would have drawn significant transfer-portal interest are off the market before the portal opens on Jan. 2. There are some talented quarterbacks who will be available. Notre Dame’s Kenny Minchey and Old Dominion’s Colton Joseph both intend to enter the portal, and Arizona State quarterback Sam Leavitt has been widely expected to enter since news surfaced in November that his camp was pursuing offers from interested programs. But Sellers and Sagapolutele staying put makes the quarterback market thinner at the top, and there will be a lot of demand among Power 4 teams. And even though Sellers’ 2025 season didn’t quite live up to lofty preseason expectations, there’s still optimism that he can realize his immense potential. He’ll be in a new offense, as Briles will bring a veer-and-shoot style that spawned at Baylor more than a decade ago and has spread throughout the sport. That scheme should fit Sellers’ dual-threat skill set well and set him up for a strong 2026.