Offseason Update #14 (NFL Draft)

    The lives of four former USC players changed in a big way in the last few days. Those four players were Su'a Cravens, Max Tuerk, Cody Kessler, and Antwaun Woods. All of those players were picked up by an NFL team in the NFL Draft except for Antwaun Woods. Unfortunately, Antwaun Woods was picked up by the Tennessee Titans after the NFL Draft. On the other hand, Su'a Cravens was picked up by the Washington Redskins in the second round, Max Tuerk was picked up by the San Diego Chargers in the third round, and Cody Kessler was picked up by the Cleveland Browns in the third round. Sadly, Su'a Cravens was supposed to be picked up in the first round, but he fell back to the second round. All of the above players have worked just about their whole lives to make it to their dream job of playing in the NFL, and to be able to see all of that hard work pay off is truly a beautiful thing to witness. Luckily, Antwaun Woods (fun fact: Taft High School alumni) was picked up by the Titans after going undrafted. Unfortunately, many USC players that entered the NFL Draft didn't get drafted, so hopefully a team will pick them up as an undrafted free agent soon. Hopefully, all of the USC players that did get picked up by NFL teams will perform to the highest of their abilities!

Offseason Update #13 (Quarterback Battle)

   Unfortunately, head coach Clay Helton hasn't decided who is going to be the starting quarterback for this upcoming season. Although, it gives the coaching staff more time to make sure that they make the right decision, it holds the team back because the receivers can't get used to their starting quarterback. Clay Helton decided to make his decision in the fall because their isn't an obvious winner in the quarterback battle. The battle is between redshirt junior Max Browne and redshirt freshman Sam Darnold. Max Browne is a pocket passer, while Sam Darnold is a dual threat player that also has a good amount of arm strength. According to Clay Helton's post spring practice interviews, both quarterbacks showed amazing skill throughout the spring. I personally feel that Max Browne is the man for the job because he was second string to former quarterback Cody Kessler which he probably learned a lot from, so not only is he experienced but he has also shown his accuracy and arm strength throughout the spring. I truly hope that Clay Helton makes his decision soon because the first team offense needs to get used to the playing style of the starting quaterback, and figure out his tendencies. Hopefully, Clay Helton makes the right decision to lead the Trojans to an amazing championship season. I hope to see you guys next week to talk about why I think this upcoming season can be a great one for the Trojans.

Offseason Update #12 (Spring Game)

      Finally their is big news for USC football! That big news is the Trojans Spring Game that took place on Saturday, April 16. I was able to go with my two brothers! It was really fun to see all of the players playing football for the first time since last season. A spring game isn't like a normal game. It's just the USC offense playing against the USC defense for the whole game. Throughout the game the coaches make changes to perfect their offense and defense. It's pretty fun to watch the spring game because it's basically like watching the Trojans practice. It's also a great atmosphere because it's filled with Trojan fans, students, and chances to win prizes such as t-shirts. From what I saw, I feel that we truly have an offensive weapon which is JuJu Smith-Schuster. He is an absolute beast on the field. He made both of his touchdowns look very easy. With his combination of size and speed, he is destined to be a Heisman candidate this season. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see Adoree' Jackson because he missed all of Spring practice to pursue his Olympic dreams in the long jump. Although, I did get to see quarterbacks Max Browne, Sam Darnold, and Jalen Greene. It seemed evident to me that Max Browne is going to end up being the starting quarterback due to his experience and arm strength. The spring game was an overall good time and hope to go again next year. Hopefully, the Trojans will keep playing as they did on Saturday so that they can have a successful season.

Offseason Update #11

 Unfortunately, the USC defense has lost another member. That member is senior Scott Felix (DE). He has been ruled ineligible to play his last season at USC by the NCAA. He has been ruled ineligible due to testing positive for a banned substance. He tested positive late in the 2015 season, and had his appeal on April first. Unfortunately, the NCAA decided to rule him ineligible due to the banned substance. Scott Felix tweeted about the whole scenario. Scott Felix said that he took an over the counter supplement without talking to his medical staff. He thought that his research on the supplement would be good enough to conclude that the supplement is okay to take. Although, he won't be able to play this season, the coaching staff are going to try to let him participate in team activities. Hopefully, he has shown NFL scouts that he has what it takes to play in the NFL. I could only imagine how much it hurts him to not be able to play his final season of his college career. Hopefully, he will remain to stay active so that he can be ready to begin his NFL career.

Offseason Update #10

   With the first week of spring practice in the books, a lot of talk has arose of what the Trojans need to work on, and what their strong suits are. I'll start off with what the Trojans are strong in, which is their offense. Unfortunately, quarterback Cody Kessler is leaving, but Max Browne (RS Junior) will take his place. Max Browne is now experienced and ready to lead the Trojan's offense. The running back position is definitely filled with talent due to Justin Davis and Ronald Jones. USC is also stacked with talent in the receiver position with JuJu Smith-Schuster, Darreus Rogers, Issac Whitney, and Adoree' Jackson. The offense is filled with talent to help lead the Trojans to a successful season. The defense on the other hand will definitely need some work to be great. With the departure of Antwaun Woods, Delvon Simmons, Greg Townsend, Anthony Sarao, and Su'a Cravens the USC defense will have to be rebuilt. In addition, five star defensive tackle Kenny Bigelow will miss all of the 2016 season due to an ACL tear. All of the above players had big roles in the defense, that now have to be filled. Hopefully, USC will be able to build a dominate defense like they had last season!

Offseason Update #9

  The Trojans recently had a big event for their seniors that are pursuing the NFL Draft. That event was the Trojans NFL Pro Day. The Trojans NFL Pro Day was on March 23. A pro day is a day were many NFL scouts come out to college schools and analyze all of the athletes, to decide if they want to draft them in the upcoming draft. A lot of athletes participated, but the athletes that scouts looked at the most were Su'a Cravens and Cody Kessler. Both Su'a Cravens and Cody Kessler performed greatly in front of the scouts. Su'a Craven's 40 yard dash time was 4.65, and his vertical jump was 30.5 inches. The above numbers aren't the best but are pretty good for a linebacker due to his size. Cody Kessler didn't participate in the 40 yard dash, and vertical jump because he is not a mobile quarterback, so scouts wouldn't care about his results. But, Cody Kessler did show off his amazing arm in front of the scouts by showing arm strength and touch. Hopefully, the scouts liked most of the participants, so that they can all pursue their dreams of playing in the NFL. Su'a Cravens is predicted to be drafted in the late first round, while Cody Kessler is predicted to be drafted in the seventh round. The seventh round may seem late in the draft, but quarterbacks don't usually get picked early in the draft unless they are extraordinary. Hopefully, all of the USC alumni that make it to the NFL will show their amazing skills that they progressed at USC!

Offseason Update #8

    Since their hasn't been any recent news for USC I decided to dedicate this blog post to my experiences at USC training camps. I have been to both Camp Kiffin(two times) and Camp Sark(one time). They are the same camp, the only difference was who was head coach at the time. The training camp is the same every year, and just as fun as the year before. Since the order of the events of the camp are the same every year, I'm going to explain the order of the camp. The camp always starts off with registration. After everybody is checked in, all of the athletes head to the USC public field with volunteer football players to stretch. After everybody is warm and stretched, we begin to run the 40 yard dash, and perform the broad jump. After every athlete has ran a 40 yard dash and performed a broad jump, everybody heads to the USC practice field (where the Trojans practice) to go through a circuit of drills. The coaches and volunteer players put us into groups of about ten, and begin the circuit. The circuit drills are ran by actual football players that teach us the fundamentals of the drill, and how the drill relates to an actual game scenario. The circuit usually takes about two hours. Once the circuit is complete, we have about an hour break for lunch. Lunch is one of my favorite parts of the camp because you can talk to the players and pick their minds to become a better player. After lunch, the players take us into the film room and show us a video of all of the highlights from the season before. Once the video ends we get taken by the Strength and Conditioning Coach to the weight room. The Strength and Conditioning Coach then talks to us about the importance of weight lifting. Once he finishes his very disciplined speech, he releases us to let us explore the weight room. Next, we return to the USC Practice Field after about two hours of exploring the athletic facilities to play the famous Trojan Ball Tournament. Trojan Ball is exactly like two- touch football, except that you can throw the ball as many times as you want. So, if you catch the football, you have the choice to throw the football to one of your teammates even if he's in front of you. All of the athletes get into their teams that they were told to get into during registration. The tournament then begins! You play a minimum of three games with a chance to play more if you make it to the championship. The whole tournament usually takes about two hours. After the tournament, the camp is basically over because the only thing left to do is listen to all the coaches say thank you. Finally, after the coaches say their thank yous', everybody is an a mad dash to get to their cars so that they can get home before they get stuck in LA traffic!