COLUMBIA — Marcellas Dial from South Carolina football is officially an NFL rookie after being picked 180th overall by the New England Patriots in the sixth round of the 2024 NFL draft on Saturday.

Here's what Dial brings to the Patriots, based on our own observations from his tenure at South Carolina:

What cornerback Marcellas Dial brings to New England in 2024 NFL Draft

Dial is a strong player and stays in the face of the receiver. He has good awareness, strong anticipation and showed good instincts mirroring the receivers. Dial has really quick feet, great athleticism and read quarterbacks and routes very well in college.

He played cornerback all three years at South Carolina after starting at defensive back with Georgia Military.

Marcellas Dial's strengths, highlights at South Carolina football

In 2023, he recorded a team-high 10 pass breakups. Against Texas A&M he had an 8-yard sack and against Georgia he posted a season-high eight tackles. In 2022, he was named SEC Defensive Player of the Week after the Clemson game when he had two tackles, one interception, three pass breakups and allowed just one catch on 11 yards despite 11 targets.

Dial ran a 4.46 40-yard dash, jumped a 40-5 vertical, and logged a 10-9 broad jump.

Marcellas Dial's stats at South Carolina football

• 114 tackles

• 83 solo tackles

• 31 passes defended

SOUTH CAROLINA TRACKER: How many South Carolina football players were picked in 2024 NFL draft? See every selection

Lulu Kesin covers South Carolina athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email her at lkesin@gannett.com and follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @Lulukesin

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Patriots draft Marcellas Dial in 2024 NFL Draft: Pros, cons of pick