LOS ANGELES — With a couple of more practices and a scrimmage in the books, USC is entering the home stretch of spring practice. Here’s what I learned about the Trojans in Week 4 of spring ball:
1. It has been a while since former five-star cornerback Domani Jackson has played a full football season. As a sophomore at Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.), he started and played the whole season in 2019. The COVID-19 pandemic limited his junior season to five games. He suffered a knee injury that forced him to miss nearly all of his senior season in 2021, and then he was in and out of the lineup as he was still recovering from that knee injury as a freshman at USC last fall.
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The positive development for the Trojans and Jackson is that he’s practicing on a consistent basis this spring and finally learning the ropes of the college game that he wasn’t able to last year.
“Most definitely,” Jackson said when asked if he had to rebuild confidence in his knee since he initially suffered the injury almost two years ago. “It’s always a struggle coming off a knee surgery, just gaining that confidence. It plays a big role in your play. I think I’m really confident in my knee this year.”
Jackson was the first five-star prospect to sign with USC after Lincoln Riley was hired late in 2021. For a Trojans defense that lacked elite talent last season, Jackson’s progress certainly will be worth monitoring.
For what it’s worth, Jackson said he “feels great” and that his knee is coming along. He said this week that he didn’t really start to feel like himself again after last season. Jackson has had to knock off some of the rust this spring that has built up over missing most of the past two years.
He’s also getting acclimated to the college game, where he can’t rely purely on his athleticism and physicality like he said he could in high school.
“In some ways, he’s kind of going through those things you go through your true freshman year,” Riley told reporters Saturday. “You’re learning to compete against other players who are really good on the other side of the ball every single day. Defensively, from a call standpoint, learning the entire defense, being able to play different calls, different techniques.”
Riley said Jackson has been able to quickly correct mistakes from one practice to the next, but the staff wants to get him to the point where he can play freely so the 6-foot-1, 190-pound cornerback can utilize his length, strength and speed more aggressively.
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“Each day he just gets a little more confident,” Riley said. “The mistakes are starting to trim down. The positive plays are starting to go up, and that’s going to be a process.”
Ceyair Wright started nine games in 2022. (Jayne Kamin-Oncea / USA Today)2. As USC moves past spring practice in the coming weeks and into preseason camp in a few months, the competition at cornerback should be among the most intriguing storylines of the preseason.
Riley has praised Ceyair Wright, who started nine games last season, for his progress and increased confidence this spring. The staff seems to really like Jacobe Covington, who is physically impressive (6-2, 200 pounds) and started the final three games of last season.
The Trojans also brought in Arizona transfer Christian Roland-Wallace, theoretically, to play a lot. Roland-Wallace has been limited a bit this spring after tweaking his ankle.
And there’s Jackson, who was a five-star prospect. Even once two players earn starting roles, it wouldn’t be a surprise if USC rotates the other two cornerbacks quite a bit throughout the season.
“That’s the beauty of it,” Wright said. “At the end of the day, we’re all brothers and want everybody to be the best they can. I make a play, all that does is make somebody else want to make a play too.”
3. After Saturday’s scrimmage, Riley was asked about the difference between the defense now and at this time a year ago. He mentioned the two things he’s most excited about are 1) the emergence of some players in the secondary and 2) the depth in the front seven.
There was a lot of talk about USC’s defensive front throughout the week, particularly Texas A&M transfer Anthony Lucas and Arizona transfer Kyon Barrs.
Lucas (6-5, 270) and Barrs (6-2, 290) provide size and athleticism the Trojans sorely lacked along the defensive line last season.
“Big people beat up little people,” defensive line coach Shaun Nua said this week. “Big people still have to be able to move though.”
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It seems like Lucas and Barrs fit that bill well. Lucas has moved between defensive end and rush end throughout the spring and has been highlighted by his teammates and coaches throughout the past few weeks.
“He’s one of those guys you feel his impact on practice just about every day,” Riley said, “and that’s what great players and certainly guys who are really good and impactful defensive lineman, you feel them. Tuli (Tuipulotu) was like that. … The great ones, you kind of feel a presence. … I’m not saying he’s Tuli. I’m not saying he’s a great player yet, but he’s certainly got the chance to be.”
When asked about some defensive linemen, linebacker Raesjon Davis said this about Barrs: “Kyon, he’s super active inside the middle. He’s doing great.”
4. Thursday was the first time media members have talked to Nua since last season. He didn’t want to compare this year’s defensive line group to last year’s. But he acknowledged pure numbers and depth were missing last year.
The floor should be higher for USC’s starting defensive line across the board this fall. Plus, players like Tyrone Taleni and Stanley Ta’ufo’ou, who were starters last season, could be useful depth pieces.
But when the transfer portal re-opens for the spring window on April 15, USC probably could stand to add at least another defensive lineman. With USC situated pretty well depth-wise at most positions on offense, the defensive line is where the staff probably should be most aggressive in the portal this spring.
Raesjon Davis (9) had three tackles against Tulane in Cotton Bowl. (Tim Heitman / USA Today)5. About a week after the season ended, Riley said Davis’ Cotton Bowl performance could serve as a confidence boost for the third-year linebacker, who was a former top-50 prospect, and increase the staff’s confidence in him.
Davis played sparingly his first two seasons but received most of the snaps in the second half against Tulane and finished with three tackles.
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When asked what he learned about his performance in that game, Davis said: “Just take advantage of your opportunities. Whenever you get a chance, make the best of it.”
Davis is receiving a lot more reps this spring with fellow linebacker Eric Gentry out while recovering from ankle surgery he underwent a few weeks ago. The former four-star linebacker said his comfort level with defensive coordinator Alex Grinch’s scheme has grown a lot.
Riley echoed those sentiments on Saturday and said Davis is making fewer mistakes and playing cleaner this spring. In the past, there have been concerns about Davis’ size and whether he could hold up physically as an inside linebacker — he starred as an outside linebacker at Mater Dei. But Riley has been pleased with Davis’ physical progress.
Still, the path toward playing time at inside linebacker this season will be crowded. Former Oklahoma State linebacker Mason Cobb seems like a lock to start. That leaves the rest of the snaps to four players — Davis, Gentry, Shane Lee, who started all of last season, and Tackett Curtis, a highly touted freshman.
“(Raesjon’s) had a good spring. … We kind of all sense this is a key time for him,” Riley said. “He’s had a lot of opportunities this spring. That’s a good room right now. … It’s a very competitive room. It’s one of the deepest rooms we have on the football team as it’s kind of evolved. I think it’s made all those guys have to up their game. Because anything less than elite linebacker play, and they’re going to have to be standing by us (on the sideline). That’s just the nature of the competition.”
Davis returned a fumble for a score during Saturday’s scrimmage, which should only help his cause.
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6. On the subject of competition and deep position groups, USC’s running back stable will be pretty full this year. The Trojans added two blue-chip freshmen (Quinten Joyner and A’Marion Peterson) and South Carolina transfer MarShawn Lloyd.
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USC is five-deep at the position now, and that’s not including Raleek Brown, who played the position last season but is mostly working in the slot this spring.
Darwin Barlow rushed for 266 yards in 2021, but his carries dipped from 56 that year to just 16 in 2022. He was the forgotten man in the position group but became a little bit of a fan favorite because of his tough running style and a couple of crucial runs he had in the fourth quarter against UCLA in November.
With three newcomers, and Austin Jones bound to receive a significant amount of carries, it would be easy for Barlow to wonder about his role. But Barlow seemed relatively positive about the situation.
“Competition will be everywhere no matter what school you go to,” Barlow said. “Competition just brings that dawg out of you. I feel like I was built for it. Built to compete. It’s going to help me grow throughout this spring. I’m thankful for it and wouldn’t want it any other way.”
(Top photo of Domani Jackson: Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
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