Ari Watford is watching schools court him. The Virginia-based product transferred from Salem (Virginia Beach) to Maury (Norfolk) this past season and was a breakout player and riser in the 2025 class. Watford has an offer list of Florida State, Georgia, Maryland, Michigan, Texas A&M, Virginia Tech, West Virginia, Penn State, and now USC.
The 6-foot-5, 220-pound Watford is rated a five-star prospect in the 247Sports Composite, the No. 27 overall recruit and the No. 4 edge rusher.
He is the No. 52 overall prospect and the No. 4 edge rusher in the 247Sports rankings. Watford recorded 10 tackles as a true freshman, eight of them tackles for a loss with five sacks.
USC also offered Watford’s teammate, four-star 2025 interior offensive lineman Jaylen Gilchrist. You can see in the recruitment of Watford a continuing emphasis on beefing up the Trojans’ defensive line and improving their pass rush. These were both achingly large deficiencies on the 2022 roster, the product of neglect during the Clay Helton years.
Maury 2025 edge rusher Ari Watford receives a new offer from the USC Trojans. https://t.co/Z3zRY9xevA
— Matthew Hatfield (@hatfieldsports) January 25, 2023
Second Team Defense
DL @KeylanAbrams
DL @trentwilson____
DL @ari_watford
DL @lancejackson40
LB @Jadon_Perlotte5
LB @ParkerMeese
LB @PortWeston
LB @Kristhompson25
DB @ChrisEwaldjr
DB @Tariqhayer
DB @ivantay2four1
DB @DevinWilliams21
AP @_Keylan1k— Zack Poff (@Zack_Poff_MP) January 12, 2023
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