FOOTBALL

Key Position Change For USC Offensive Line

Jonah Monheim has moved to left tackle, according to offensive line coach Josh Henson.

This is interesting because Michael Tarquin has been playing left tackle since he transferred from Florida. He was primarily a right tackle at Florida.

That tells us the spring didn’t convince the coaches Tarquin should be the left tackle, which is the most important position on the offensive line. It’s also a big move for Monheim, who has been a right tackle. He has 21 career starts and 18 were at right tackle. The other three were at right guard.

This would be the revised line with Monheim and Tarquin flipping spots.

  • LT              79               Jonah Monheim
  • LG             70              Emmanuel Pregnon
  • C               57               Justin Dedich 
  • RG            52               Jarrett Kingston
  • RT             71               Michael Tarquin

32 thoughts on “Key Position Change For USC Offensive Line”

      1. ‘Celeb’ probably won’t have as good of a statistical year as he had in ’22
        But he may surpass the win total which is all that counts

        Liked by 3 people

      2. I’d demand to play center so I can bend over for the quarterback and he can put his hands between my legs. That’s just me though.

        Liked by 1 person

    2. Whatever…just keep those pineappleheads away from the offensive line, they can’t block for shit, they’re slow footed, slow witted and always the first ones out of gas.

      Sam Darnold had a couple of those pineappleheads in front of him the year USC played Ohio St. in the Cotton Bowl, that game didn’t end well as the Ladies of Troy got beat like they stole something.

      Post game a reporter asked Darnold why the Trojans passing game had a diificult time, Darnold replied, “Well, it’s hard to complete passes when you’re on your back most of the game”.

      The response to that came from USC O Lineman Viane Talamaivao who walked up and punched Darnold in the mouth.

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  2. USC O-line preseason ranking #5 – Monheim and Dedich considered top 5 at their respective positions:

    https://www.pff.com/news/college-football-top-10-offensive-lines-2023

    “Two starters from USC’s unit return in Jonah Monheim and Justin Dedich. Monheim is a top-five offensive tackle in the nation and totaled the most pass-blocking snaps among FBS tackles last season without allowing a sack or hit (570). Dedich is a top-five interior offensive lineman in the nation and posted the highest pass-blocking grade among Power Five guards (90.0) last year. He’s likely moving to center in 2023.

    No offensive line benefited from the transfer portal more than USC’s this offseason, as the Trojans acquired a projected three new starters. Washington State’s Jarrett Kingston should start at right guard and was third among Pac-12 tackles in 2022 with an 80.9 pass-blocking grade. Wyoming’s Emmanuel Pregnon will likely be the starter at left guard and placed third among Mountain West guards with a 73.9 grade last season. Michael Tarquin will likely protect Williams’ blindside, where he excelled last year for Florida, as he was one of only two SEC tackles who didn’t allow a sack or hit on at least 150 pass-blocking snaps”

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    1. The credit for the USC offensive line being good and no longer being a turnstile goes to offensive line coach Josh Henson, he’s a helluva coach.

      Henson whipped those girls into shape.

      Hell, they should have Henson coach the D Line as well because that clown Shaun Nua is clueless, doesn’t know what the hell he’s doing at all.

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      1. Gee, you mean like not at all? So we have TB on one side and Lincoln Riley on the other side. I have to think LR knows a tad bit more than TB. So TB can take his stupid ass opinion and stuff it.

        Liked by 2 people

      2. If ‘Ol Mule Shoe knew his head from his ass he would have gotten rid of those three fucking idiots Alex Grinch, Shaun Nua and Donte Williams.

        Anyone that knows football will tell you that Grinch, Nua and Donte Williams can’t coach worth a shit.

        Between those three idiots, all the years they’ve been pretending to be coaches, who have they coached up?

        Don’t give me Makai Blackmon either. That girl will be lucky if she makes a practice squad. Who else?

        Hundreds of players those idiots have been around and nothing, zip, zilch in terms of any kind of player development. Years of being pure crap and yet ‘Ol Mule Shoe keeps his boyfriend Alex Grinch and the other two idiots around as if they’re ever going to figure out how to coach.

        Jesus H. Christ, just go out and hire a legit defensive coordinator and staff, it ain’t rocket science

        Liked by 1 person

  3. Very interesting.

    I personally think that this is partly being done so that Elijah Paige can take over the left tackle spot during the year and then Monheim will either move to a guard position, or he will kick out Tarquin as right tackle.

    Personally, I think by end of the year the starting lineup will be

    Paige – LT
    Kingston – LG
    Dedich – C
    Pregnon – RG
    Monheim – RT

    Of course there is a decent probability that someone gets injured and Tarquin doesnt get pushed aside, but they reshuffle the deck. Lots of position versatility is being built here. High level of competition to start.

    Lots of opportunities for blow-outs in the regular season, so all of them will play a decent amount and have the chance to show out to the NFL, but they have to earn it.

    Monheim and Dedich and Kingston are the 3 players that I dont see getting pushed off the field, unless they get injured.

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    2. Paige is going to be a 1st round draft pick eventually. ND had five 4 star O-Linemen committed when Paige decided to flip. I went on a ND podcast and they were really upset about losing Paige. They said that he was the best of the five 4 stars that they had committed. They really thought that he was good.

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    3. As I thought about it, maybe this is just gives them a better path if one of the starters gets hurt. By moving Monheim to LT, you move Tarquin back to RT where he is not quite so important. If either of the two guards gets injured, you move Monheim to that position and Paige comes in at LT. If Tarquin gets injured or doesnt perform you move Monheim back there because he has plenty of experience at RT already.

      And maybe this allows Monheim to improve his draft stock.

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  5. Personally, I think Monheim is the best O-Lineman on the SC team, even with all the other guys they brought in.
    This is just one guys opinion who doesn’t have any inside sources but I think SC is going to be much improved this year over last year. One reason that I believe that is the fierce competition we will see. Competition always makes things better.
    Earlier this year, when they started bringing in all those new players in the transfer portal, a lot of players saw the writing on the wall and decided that they should head for the exit if they want to get on the field in 2023.
    The ones who stayed were good players and I think that they were convinced that they could compete with these guys or they wouldn’t have stayed. You have a lot of good players on this team who were brought in as talented projects who have improved immensely since they first came in. If they were high end 3 stars when they first came in, they are 5 stars now.
    I’m talking about guys like Prophet Brown, Anthony Beavers, Jude Wolfe, TyroneTaleni, Devan Thompkins, Garrison Madden, Stanley Ta’ufo’ou, Andres Dewerk, Solo, Gino Quinones, Tobias Raymond, Andrew Milek, Mason Murphy, Dejon Benton. These guys and others are all really good players, not to mention the ones that came in this year through the portal and recruiting process.
    The competition will be fierce and the fact that they stayed means they are ready to compete to whatever degree that it takes. I wouldn’t be surprised if at the end of the year, the starting line up will be much different than at the start.
    You have much more dept on defense which you need when you have an offense that is such a quick scoring offense like SC’s which doesn’t give the defense much rest. And the offense will be better this year too even though last year the offense finished 3rd in the nation. It’s going to be a great year.

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  7. Wearesc reports (Schrader) that he talked with Itete and he is good, there is no threat of a decomit. As usual, it sounds like the 247 crew jumped the gun.

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    1. 247 sports national guys are speaking to the Florida St coaches, not the recruit because they would have quoted him directly, if he were flipping. He would have decommitted if he was going to Florida St. We shall see, not bothered about recruits in July.

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  10. I haven’t been this happy since Clay Helton was removed. Colorado just returned to the Big 12. Now Oregon and Washington feel left out and abandoned. Both schools begging the Big 10 to let them in and Carol Folt told the Big 10 don’t let them in! Ah, the drama of it all!! Goodbye and good riddance Pac 9!!!

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  11. Clueless ACC wants to expand now? With Florida St already upset at the slice of the pie they’re getting now? Really ACC? These idiots had an alliance with the Big 12 and Pac 9 but now they think they can grow? And offer a smaller piece of revenue share? For a small TV revenue school?

    The Pac 12 has now gone from having 6 of the top 20 TV markets in the conference to 3 and 0 in the top 9 markets. What recruit in their right mind goes to a conference with no TV exposure after 2024?

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  12. Rumblings and growing —- rumor mill is cranking of a potential ACC/Pac12 merge on the horizon as both conference, esp the latter, are hemorrhaging teams. It would be a ‘coup’ for Kliavkoff were he able to staunch further ‘tally hos’ from remaining conference members.

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/other/rumor-florida-state-seminoles-looking-to-depart-from-acc-with-sec-big-ten-rumors-swirling/ar-AA1erWO1?ocid=winp2fptaskbarhover&cvid=f42a1df1803c48b2b2c0033ee6afee87&ei=22

    Note FL St. is rumored to be looking to leave for the SEC or Big 10.

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  13. I recall watching an interview of Monheim wherein he discussed the problems with moving from the right side to the left. He had to re-train his brain and foot and hand movements and the process was frustrating and time consuming. A bit surprised that Henson is moving him. It may be a big deal. Tarquin must have been a big disappointment in the spring to cause this change.

    What happened to Mason Murphy. At one point, Henson called him the most talented of his lineman, a guy with a huge upside. He is inconsistent. Sometimes gets beat. But, I hope they haven’t given up on him. Coaches need to develop players with potential.

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  14. The PAC 12 issued a statement that they aren’t going to be phased by Colorado leaving they will remain strong!
    And now time for UNLV to join the league.

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  15. The offensive line will be great in my opinion. We must develop Paige and the other Fr. There shouldn’t be no excuses JH. We have 10 freshman OL, seems like so if I do the the math u must get 3-5 OL a year not #1 that develops. If JH develops Paige into a LT by the 3rd game, then recruits will notice. I do hear how high Paige’s ceiling he has all makings of a future 1st Rd pick

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