Two South Carolina football quarterbacks chose to leave after the head coach’s resignation Will Muschamp. One is designed as an initial first round pick by a simulated NFL draft. Walter Football, a website that updated its ranking on December 30, has Jaycee Horn being selected as the No. 6 overall pick in this April’s NFL Draft.
If Walter Football is correct, Horn would be the first defensive back selected in the NFL’s 2021 Draft and would be the second Southeastern Conference player selected behind fifth place overall Jamarr Chase, an LSU wide receiver.
It should be noted, however, that a look at the latest simulated drafts from CBS Sports, NFL.com and Pro Football Focus does not show Horn anywhere in the first round. Walter Football is the strangest.
Over the course of three seasons, Horn started 29 games during his South Carolina football career and played in another. This season, he had 16 tackles in total, with one losing yards. He also has a couple of interceptions, both against Auburn, when he beat the SEC’s defensive player of the week, and had six past splits to his credit.
Horn announced that he was opting out of the rest of the season on November 16, the day after Muschamp’s resignation. Should be in the running for a first-round selection in the NFL’s 2021 Draft, Horn provided more details as to why he decided to end his university career when he did so in an interview posted on November 22.
“It was a big decision, mainly because we were fighting and I felt like I was risking too much going back in the last three games,” said Horn in an interview with The Draft Network’s NFL Draft analyst Jordan Reid.
“Furthermore, my family situation. I asked my grandparents to come down with COVID. My grandfather lost a lot of weight. My aunt was actually in the hospital and struggled to get through it and she is starting to get better now, thankfully. I didn’t say any of that (at the time of the announcement). It wasn’t just giving up, leaving my team. My team knows how I feel about them. There was a lot going on mentally for me and I just felt it was the right decision at the time. “
Horn was named SEC Defensive Player of the Week for the first time this year, after getting two interceptions and causing another in the victory over Auburn. The native of Alpharetta, Georgia, has six pass separations in five games this season to keep up with these two interceptions, which totaled 34 return yards.