After signing few offensive linemen for a couple signing periods, USC has taken three in the past week.
USC obviously wants to sign as many offensive linemen as possible. And it can always drop someone if it doesn’t want them later.
But the Trojans have not had a four-star offensive lineman in more than a year. They haven’t had a five-star commit since 2010.
Linemen do develop. But not at USC recently. Clay Helton would argue they need depth so the rankings are not as important. It would be nice to see some of the best linemen in the West go to USC, though, because every year it seems like the offensive line is a team weakness.
InsideUSC with Scott Wolf 
Most if not all of these kids will never play at USC if Gomer is fired as expected
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I guess Jason Rodriguez doesn’t count from this class?
https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2019/jason-rodriguez-203688
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Nice catch — and the fella is listed at 6’6″ 325.
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if Scott is measuring the “more than 1 year since a 4 star” from the date of signing, he’s safe on this one. But the larger point is that we’ve not only got Rodriguez but a host of other fine prospects….
#…NowIfWeOnlyHadAnExperiencedAirRaidO-LineCoach….
#[I’mSureDrevnoIsNotHarrell’sFirstChoice]……
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Maybe you mean from date of commitment??? Which of course is non binding anyway. But clearly there is one in this class who signed in December if I’m not mistaken.
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Hey Pudly 76, stop trying to prove everyone wrong you dumb ass, if you don’t like what Scott Wolf has to say, then go back to your daily routine of watching me bang your wife and daughter, as you’re rubbing one off 😃 💋💋💋💋💋
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Your better than this Scott.
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Haden and Swann both benefited enormously from their O-lines. I recall they would have been protected by Marvin Powell, Bill Bain, and Pete Adams, among others.
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67,
I totally agree. Drevno will have a chance to become another Hudson Houck or another Calloway. We will see
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Pasadena, yes indeed – fingers crossed that Drevno will be another Houck. Callaway wasn’t even trying at the end. We all have heard the TV announcers call SC “Tailback U”, but that was only because SC at that time was “O-line U”.
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I think the strategy is to identify prospects who are really 4 stars who have lots of upside and are great team players. SC’s previous. 4 and 5 stars were fat and didnt pan out. SC will still go after the 4 and 5 star players but everyone wants them and there is the threat we will lose to another team and not have anyone at all.
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Austin Jackson ran on the 4×100 meter relay team in high school and isn’t fat as far as lineman go.
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The o-line is an annual weakness because Helton runs a finesse style offense and runs soft practices. Of course linemen aren’t going to develop if they aren’t permitted to bang each other around during the week.
#ASoftPracticeStyleLedToThis-ThanksClay!
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Agreed, marvienna. The 2019 season is so easy to predict— the offense will have to work around the average play of the o-line and the defense will have to overcome the average play of the corners. The shame of it is that we wouldn’t have problems getting o-linemen and corners if Helton hadn’t made it SO clear to recruits that these aren’t areas where they are likely to get coached up.
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Here was my post from over a week ago…
Tebow_Obama
JUNE 13, 2019 AT 12:34 AM
LOL!
What does this clown Clay Helton have against recruiting offensive linemen.
All that idiot Helton wants to do is recruit WR’s. Another example of just how stupid and clueless Clay Helton is. The idiot doesn’t even know that all the great Trojan teams were built around some of the greatest offensive linemen to ever play the game…college and pro.
Bruce Matthews, Brad Budde, Anthony Munoz, Don Mosebar, Tyron Smith, Tony Boselli, Sam Baker, Roy Foster, Keith Van Horne…the list goes on and on and on.
That clown Clay Helton thinks he can win by overloading the roster with WR’s and DB’s and that proves the idiot doesn’t have a clue.
__________________________________
Sick and tired of reading about all the WR’s Helton and the other two idiot head coaches before him (Sarkisian & Kiffin) were recruiting. WR was and still is the end all be all with those three aforementioned idiots. You can have all the 5 star WR’s you want and they won’t do you a damn bit of good when your QB is constantly knocked on his ass, running for his life and under tutelage of a shit coach like Clay Helton who doesn’t understand that great offenses start with a great offensive line.
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So far I like the trend of recruiting big-tall but lean O-linemen. No oafy ones so far. 3* can be underestimated when they go to small schools or schools in areas not covered by scouting combines. Look at the old films of USC great teams and the O-linemen were lean and could pull and block downfield.
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Back then they were playing against 300 pound lineman. Linebackers today weight what lineman weighed back then. They’re not going to be pulling a student body right with the air raid.
CH talked a good game when he was first hired, on how USC was going to be physical in the trenches, but he had no idea how to get there. Now we see him going to an air raid. The poster USC put out where CH says he’s going to be focused on the discipline part of the game would be a slap in the face to any competent coach out there. That showed me he has no business running a top tier college football team.
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“They were not” is what I meant to say.
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Trend? That clown Helton just started contemplating recruiting offensive linemen this past week.
The only reason USC got Jason Rodriguez is because the kid grew up wanting to attend and play for “USC”. Another example of USC recruiting itself.
I guarantee you that you couldn’t name 5 highly regarded offensive line recruits that Helton has put any kind of real effort in pursuing since he’s been head coach at USC.
All that idiot Helton ever wants to recruit are WR’s and DB’s, as if he has had any success in developing their skill.
Look at who Helton had as his offensive line coach, Neil Callaway…the worst offensive line coach in the history of football at any level.
This is how concerned or interested Clay Helton had been with his offensive line…he had this clown working with the Trojan players for years, teaching them absolutely nothing
Now all of a sudden Helton and you Sunshine Pumpers want people to think Helton has been focused on building up the Trojan offensive line?
GTFO!
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You recruit what you can sign. If SC has a cohesive plan then I’m sorry, I don’t see it.
Marv, ever gone full throttle in the box? Defensive guys have to show just how nasty they can be. You just can’t do it to your own guys. D guys are better athletes with a mean streak. I wish you guys would think twice about advocating game situation, full pads, in practice. There would be no knees left on the O side. Or maybe eyeballs.
P76 has threatened me with going to a gun show as my sidekick. & there are 3 former NFL players out of our group who vend. All D guys
He’ll take one look at those guys & say ‘holy sh1t, they’d kill you. Yes they would. I’m a soft 65yr old has been & I still relish the memory 45 yrs later just ass whoppin a puzzy O guy.
SC can’t go full throttle. Nobody in the PAC can.
#CreditThisPostTo6Coors.
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Have another drink, Bozo.
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Ahem
Chuma Edoga – 5 star 2015
Recent grad O linemen in NFL
2015 – Jordan Simmons 4 star
2012- Chad Wheeler – 3 star
2011 – Marcus Martin – 3 star
2015 – Christian Rector 3 star (potential NFL)
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