Beamer Offers Cautious Optimism on Stewart and Peak as Preseason Camp Reaches Day Five
Five days into South Carolina’s 2026 preseason camp, the same recurring question keeps surfacing: where do things actually stand with edge rusher Dylan Stewart and offensive lineman Jacarrius Peak? Head coach Shane Beamer addressed the topic again during Tuesday’s press conference, and while his answer offered incremental encouragement, it stopped well short of a firm timeline.
A measured update, without a definitive answer
Asked directly about the team’s overall health, Beamer downplayed any new concerns. “Nah, normal bumps and bruises,” he said. “A couple of things that flared up today — want to get a full report before we update anything. The two you’re mainly interested in, Peak and Dylan, continue to progress. And then, it’s that time of year in preseason camp, so.” That response is worth reading carefully — Beamer explicitly acknowledged fresh, unspecified issues cropping up (“a couple of things that flared up today”) while withholding details, a pattern that suggests South Carolina’s coaching staff is being deliberately cautious about what it shares publicly during this stage of camp.
Neither player has appeared in the open practice windows so far
That caution tracks with what’s actually been observed. Beamer had already confirmed last week, as camp opened, that neither Stewart nor Peak would be full participants to start preseason work, and reporters didn’t spot either player during the limited open portions of Friday’s and Saturday’s sessions. Despite that, Beamer’s underlying confidence hasn’t wavered throughout the offseason — he’s consistently maintained both players will be ready to suit up once the season begins.
“They’re at practice and they’re doing different parts of what they’re able to throughout the day,” Beamer said Tuesday, adding: “As far as the timeline, again, we’ll go on what the doctors tell us, and as I’ve said to you guys for the last month, they’re right on track and progressing nicely.” The phrase “different parts of what they’re able to” is a notable detail — it suggests both players are present and doing some limited work, rather than sitting out entirely, even if full participation remains out of reach for now.
Why Stewart’s return matters so much
Stewart’s track record explains the urgency around his recovery. Entering his junior season, he’s already amassed 56 career tackles, including 22.5 tackles for loss, 11 sacks and 6 forced fumbles — production that places him among the most disruptive defenders on the roster. Last season alone, the 6-foot-5, 250-pound edge rusher played in 11 games, recording 33 tackles and 4.5 sacks, but he did so while managing a back injury that clearly limited his effectiveness through much of the second half of the year. That context makes South Carolina’s cautious, deliberate approach to his current recovery timeline easier to understand — rushing him back prematurely risks repeating last year’s diminished-production pattern.
Peak’s résumé as a proven, high-level transfer
Peak’s situation carries its own significance given the caliber of player he’s expected to be. A redshirt senior transfer from NC State, he spent four seasons with the Wolfpack, appearing in 38 games with 32 starts. After redshirting in 2022, he developed into a fixture on the offensive line over the following three seasons, logging more than 2,200 total snaps — split between 14 starts at left tackle and 18 at right tackle. That experience and production earned him recognition as the No. 1 offensive tackle and No. 3 overall player in this year’s transfer portal cycle, according to On3’s rankings — a pedigree that makes his continued absence from full practice reps particularly costly for an offensive line still building chemistry.
His injury, notably, didn’t come on the football field at all. The 6-foot-4, 305-pound lineman hurt his knee playing basketball during a team event in February, shortly after transferring in, which kept him out of spring practice entirely and has now carried into preseason camp as well.
Other injuries add to South Carolina’s depth concerns
Stewart and Peak aren’t the only absences worth tracking. Beamer noted last week that several other players are also out to open camp: returning offensive tackle Josiah Thompson is done for the season while recovering from knee surgery, redshirt freshman linebacker Josh Smith remains sidelined after a spring injury, and redshirt freshman receiver Jackson Repp will miss the entire season as well. Layered together, these absences — particularly Thompson’s loss up front — add further weight to how critical Peak’s eventual return becomes for an offensive line already working through significant turnover.
Where things stand heading toward the opener
South Carolina opened preseason camp last Friday, with the regular season opener against Kent State now just weeks away on September 5. With Beamer continuing to defer to medical staff on both Stewart’s and Peak’s actual timelines, the clearest signal fans have right now is his repeated, consistent messaging that both remain on track — even as neither has yet been seen taking full reps through the first several days of camp.
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