South Carolina QB LaNorris Sellers handles Alabama bait with pure class

While Thomas Castellanos and LaNorris Sellers are two of the most exciting star quarterbacks in college football, only one has a serious shot at being the face of an NFL franchise. That would be Sellers, who is coming off a breakout season at South Carolina. Castellanos will probably get drafted, but he is about to play for his third college program this year after having transferred to Florida State.

Castellanos caught up with On3's Pete Nakos about his decision to leave Boston College to reunite with his former UCF head coach Gus Malzahn down in Tallahassee. He played for Malzahn initially out of high school before transferring to Boston College. Castellanos grew up not far from Tallahassee in Waycross, Georgia, so going to Florida State has always been a dream for him. I had some thoughts...

I touched more on what Castellanos had to say about Mike Norvell, but this Alabama bit is a bit much.

“I’m excited, man. People, I don’t know if they know, but you go back and watch every first game that I played in, we always start fast. I dreamed of moments like this. I dreamed of playing against Alabama. They don’t have Nick Saban to save them. I just don’t see them stopping me."

Sellers gave a diplomatic answer when talking to Zach Gelb on the topic of Castellanos' comments.

"Alabama's still Alabama to me. They were good last year. They're a good team. They're big, strong and fast. That's how I remember watching them growing up, and I don't really think they've changed that much. Obviously, they've got a new coaching staff and all that, but they're still SEC ball. They're still Alabama."

It may have been unprompted, but Sellers is showing us all that he can be cool at the podium, too.

South Carolina went 9-3 during the regular season, which included a two-point loss to Alabama.

LaNorris Sellers shows us he has the maturity to win the Heisman Trophy

Outside of the guys on my alma mater's team in the Georgia Bulldogs, I may not be rooting for a college football star harder this season than Sellers. It may be a bit cliche to say he might be the next Cam Newton, but there may not be a more fun quarterback to watch this fall than Sellers. A ton will be asked of him to carry the Gamecocks moving forward, especially with what they lost over on defense.

That being said, we are looking at a fearless leader, who is getting more refined as a passer by the week. Whether or not he decides to turn pro after this season or not, he has a bright NFL future. I may favor the more polished Garrett Nussmeier as my projected QB1 for the 2026 NFL Draft, but I have no issues slotting Sellers in as a first-round next spring. He would be my QB1 in 2027 over Arch Manning.

This is a guy who had an NIL offer worth $8 million over the course of two years if he just up and transferred away from South Carolina. It may or may not work out for him, I do not know. What I do know is Sellers seems to have many of the same traits that made Dak Prescott great at Mississippi State and now with the Dallas Cowboys. He is a foxhole guy, and South Carolina is lucky to have him.

As for Castellanos, he better be care for what he wished for when it comes to Alabama in Week 1.