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USC Morning Buzz: Analyzing The Depth Chart

The USC depth chart is out with some notable omissions.

NC State transfer WR Terrell Anderson, a transfer from North Carolina State, senior DE Braylan Shelby and OT Elijah Vaikona, are missing. This means they must be injured although Lincoln Riley doesn’t like to reveal injuries.

Anderson was projected to start, Sheby was a possible starter and Vaikona is probably the backup at left and right tackle.

The interesting part is true freshman Luke Wafle is starting at defensive end. The other true freshmen starters are wide receivers Trent Mosley and Kayden Dixon-Wyatt along with tight end Mark Bowman.

Dixon-Wyatt held off another freshman, Boobie Feaster, despite the glow up Feaster got in training camp.

I’ve still got concerns at linebacker and the secondary. The starting safeties are Prophet Brown and Christian Pierce while either Alex Graham or Kennedy Urlacher start at nickel back. This sounds like a problem. I don’t think teams will be afraid to test this group.

USC still hasn’t decided if Deven Bryant or Jadyn Walker starts at one linebacker spot.

Last year’s kicker, Ryon Sayeri, who had a pretty good season, lost his job to Caden Chittenden, the UNLV-transfer who was hurt last season.

14 thoughts on “USC Morning Buzz: Analyzing The Depth Chart”

  2. Scott, thanks for the depth chart. It’s good to see the five star freshmen getting recognized. The d-backs have talent, let’s see how they work together as a team. That was Indiana’s strength on defense, they all knew their role on every play….so, let’s see how the unit plays for Coach Patterson. We will see it on the field in about 48 hours. Fight on, Dan, Class of 1962

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  4. We’ve talked about this before, but is the defense far enough along to be proficient with Patterson’s 4-2-5? The safety rather than the LB is the key to defending the RPO in Patterson’s defense. None of us want glorified scrimmages, but I have a feeling that these guys are still on the steep part of the learning curve of Patterson’s schemes and that the first three games will be valuable in terms of the D coming together.

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  5. I look forward to Scott’s predictions every year. He’ worried about the linebacker position I am worried about the entire team being able to perform on the road. My season prediction remains- 7-5 despite all the hype.

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      2. There’s talk in Westwood about dispensing with numbers and just putting question marks on all the UCLA uniforms…..

        #…AndDropping”Bruins”For”TheBorg”

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  7. SPEAKING OF RECRUITING HYPE!

    Where on the depth chart is Elijah Pepe- the No. 1 lineman in the country, and a 5 star recruit.

    When USC use to be good it was not unusual to see a freshman play alot on the offensive line – Don Mosebar, and Bruce Matthews played alot as freshman, and the depth chart was really deep in those days with alot of talent.

    Is USC’s offensive line that talented this year where Pepe can’t even make the depth chart. ??? I don’t think so…….but time will tell won’t it.

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  8. Say the defense performs well against SJSU, FSU and Louisiana, will it mean anything ?

    Like i said before, this stretch will make or break the season and maybe Riley’s job

    9/26 Oregon
    10/3 Washington
    10/10 @Penn State
    10/24 @Wisconsin
    10/31 Ohio State
    11/14 @Indiana

    While they get Oregon, Udub and OSU at home, the road games are not going to be fun. Riley and his less than stellar coaching abilities in games at Maryland, Minnesota and Illinois against average opponents didn’t end well. I can see 2-4 easy, 4-2 would be a win but would it get SC to the playoffs if they don’t beat OU or OSU ?

    USC on the road under Riley

    2022 Beat Stanford, Oregon St by 3, Arizona by 8, ucla by 3 but lost at Utah

    2023, Lost to ND, Oregon, beat Colorado ( almost lost ), Cal ( by one point ), ASU

    2024, lost to Michigan, Minnesota, Maryland, UDUB, beat ucla.

    2025, beat pathetic Purdue ( it was a struggle for a while ) beat Nebraska, barely, lost to Illinois, ND, Oregon

    10 million a year, new football facility and the guy puts up those numbers ? Has he ever beaten a top team on the road ? How many games has he given away on the road ?

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