South Carolina’s Cason Henry Sharpens His Skills by Facing Dylan Stewart in Practice Battles
Picture this: You’re lined up across from a 6-foot-5, 245-pound edge rusher for 60 minutes. He’s just 19 years old, but when the ball is snapped, he comes charging at you like a freight train.
Now imagine doing that every day. Thankfully, it’s only in practice — but that doesn’t make it any easier.
That’s the daily reality for South Carolina right tackle Cason Henry, who spends his days blocking Dylan Stewart, a unanimous Freshman All-American in 2024.
Is it a challenge? Absolutely. But Henry — who stands 6-foot-6 and weighs 310 pounds — embraces it.
“I was talking to Mr. (Pat) DiMarco on (Tailgate Talks with DiMarco and Garcia), and he was asking me, you know, it’s kind of hard to not get better when you go against a guy like Dylan,” Henry said. “And I was saying, like, yeah, I go against him literally every day. So it’s almost like you have to try not to get better if you’re going against the premier pass rusher in North America, you know what I mean?”
Henry, now entering his fourth season with the Gamecocks, says facing Stewart daily makes him “a lot better.” And with Stewart’s freshman resume — 10.5 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks in 13 games — the benefits are obvious.
“I want to surround myself with guys that are better than me, or know what I’m doing, or know what to look for,” Henry said.
Henry doesn’t just rely on physical reps to improve. He picks Stewart’s brain to understand a defender’s perspective.
“I asked Dylan, ‘Hey, do you know when I’m going to go down block? Do you know when I’m gonna come out and pass block you?’” Henry said. “And he’s like, ‘Yeah, you do this or you do this. Like I can kind of tell from the backfield motions or whatever.’
“There’s nothing I can do about that with the backfield stuff. But me personally, I can help with not giving any tells, not leaning in my stance, not having my hands a certain way, when they’re not looking a certain way, you know, anything that would give away any sort of hint to a defensive lineman. So, yeah, I asked those guys, and I hope that helps my game, for sure.”
Henry’s path hasn’t been smooth. Injuries limited him to just four games and one start across his first two seasons. But in 2024, he finally stayed healthy, starting all 13 games at right tackle.
“I think that when you play 13 games, you’re a lot more comfortable in situations like that, like hard two-minute situations, stuff like that, where we’re all out there,” he said. “I’ve been here before. So it’s like, I’m able to play more free. I’ve seen that throughout practices and everything.”
Heading into fall camp, Henry is determined to hold onto his starting spot. And if daily battles with Stewart are any indication, he’s preparing in the best way possible.
“I know how to play faster,” Henry said. “I’ve done it in hard situations and been successful with it, so I think it’s helped a lot.”
