It’s difficult to take in all of Javon Kinlaw’s 6-foot-6, 303-pound menacing frame and imagine he wasn’t strong enough last season. Apparently, though, that was the case, which is why South Carolina’s coaches urged their junior defensive tackle to be particularly diligent in the weight room this offseason.
“I challenged him in the offseason to get stronger and he’s gotten stronger,” Gamecocks coach Will Muschamp said.
Kinlaw had 20 tackles and three pass breakups last season after transferring from Jones Community College but survived simply on “brute strength,” he said.
“It wasn’t really any weight-room strength,” Kinlaw said.