FOOTBALL

USC Saturday Buzz: A Fair Trade?

So the day after Jason Zandamela, the No. 1 interior linemen for 2024, enters the transfer portal, USC gets a commitment from three-star offensive guard Willi Wascher of Bellevue, Wash.

Both are projected as centers in college so does this sound like a fair trade? Wascher also had offers from Nevada and Miami.

I will continue to be skeptical of offensive line coach Josh Henson especially after some fanboys insisted the linemen USC’s signed the past couple years are ready to contribute and Lincoln Riley says he will definitely add offensive linemen when the transfer portal opens up again.

30 thoughts on “USC Saturday Buzz: A Fair Trade?”

  1. I know Scottie tries hard to find material here in the off-season, but this news is not riveting enough to comment

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    1. The fact that he only had 3 offers is truly troubling but I still say that they may have already gotten their replacement for the kid from Florida who entered the portal. If you watch the film, this kid is a mauler on the run. He has a pancake on just about every play. The problem is, they are going to have to teach him to pass block and they are going to have to start from scratch. That high school that he plays for never throws the ball. Maybe that’s why so many schools were not interested.

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      1. But teaching a center to pass block is much easier than, say, teaching a tackle to pass block or even a guard. A center just has to hike the ball, raise up and protect both gaps.

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      2. All Ken’s criticism would stop if Scott would send Ken an autographed photo….

        #With”xox”AtTheBottom

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  3. The kid from Washington is 6-3 305, he’s only going to get stronger, he won’t be pushed around like some of the other centers SC has had lately.

    And it sounds like the kid from Florida has some other issues.

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  4. -Ever notice how having BK around is like being forced to hang with a bratty younger step-brother who when you say, “It’s Saturday,” will contrariously retort “Nope, it’s Sunday somewhere”

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      2. Yep, and not one phone number for John Fredrick Wolcott seems to work, and it seems John moves a round a lot. And, I don’t know many lawyers who would be on a blog all day like you are

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  5. Ryan Kalil was not highly rated in high school. He attended a Pete Carrol lineman mini camp, kicked the shit out of about 15 defensive lineman and Carrol offered him a scholarship on the spot. He went on to be an All American and All Pro. I don’t think the 4 and 5 star lineman do many of these mini camps anymore. They don’t want to risk their scholarship if they are offered in their sophomore year. Without this type of competition, if must be very difficult to evaluate these high school offensive and defensive lineman who may not face the best competition. Looks like Zandemala may have been overrated. Certainly, Korey Foreman was overrated, a guy who didn’t play his senior year in high school. We need to find a few Kalil type players.

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    1. I cannot even imagine trying to evaluate how high schoolers will work out at the next level; a kid at 18 and a ‘kid’ at 22 are different people

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      1. Your right LJ. Very few fall into the “can’t miss” category. Maybe Don Mosebar and Brad Budde but more often you have the Tobias Raymond types -gained 60 lbs. and is now trying to get used to it. Hope it works out for him. That weight/muscle gain takes a lot of effort. 

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  6. I believe Zandamela left because of NIL reasons as did Bear (before he changed his mind). USC’s NIL is a work in progress. Getting better, but not as well-funded as some other schools.

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    1. You may be right CR but there is not much reporting on it. Just speculation. USC J said that Zandemela is from Africa, lost his mom about 5 months ago, and was home sick. This is consistent with what Riley seemed to say. Bear supposedly wanted to go back home to Texas according to what a family member told USC J. Who knows.

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      1. He’s from Texas? The way I understand it, he went to high school in Florida. But as far as being homesick is concerned, his real home is Africa. The people in Florida that he was staying with was just a family that he boarded with. So the homesick thing doesn’t make sense to me.

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      2. Parcel: My comment may have been confusing. Zandemela is from Africa and then relocated to Florida and played football. Bear is from Texas. 

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    2. I don’t know if we can believe the press but I thought I saw somewhere that a Tennessee freshman quarterback got a $6-million advance. With that kind of dough being paid out who needs NFL money?

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