USC and Lincoln Riley have done really well in the transfer portal, and there will be more opportunities to add quality players in the coming weeks and months, but the Trojans did not have a good Christmas weekend in the portal.
Just before Christmas Day, former Tulsa offensive tackle Dillon Tate committed to Auburn. The Tigers and Hugh Freeze won what was a two-team battle with USC for a premier offensive lineman.
On Monday morning, the other really big USC transfer portal target went to another Southern school.
Braden Fiske, the pass rusher from Western Michigan who was being courted by USC, Florida State, and Notre Dame, picked Florida State. The Seminoles and Mike Norvell got him. Norvell is building even more confidence and optimism for the 2023 season in Tallahassee. The Seminoles appear poised to become a top-two team in the ACC alongside Clemson. They are doing at a much slower pace what Lincoln Riley and USC were able to do in one year:
BREAKING: Transfer DL Braden Fiske commits to FSU https://t.co/p1gjKtdrID
— Noles247.com (@Noles247) December 26, 2022
USC needs depth in the trenches. The Trojans would have loved to go 1 for 2 in these recent recruitments. They went 0 for 2.
Failure here is hardly devastating or disastrous, but it does place more emphasis on being able to hit some prime transfer targets for quality linemen across the country.
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