On Monday, USC football starting offensive lineman Mason Murphy became the latest Trojan to enter the NCAA transfer portal.
After redshirting his first year on campus in 2021, Murphy has appeared in every game for the Trojans over the past three seasons. In 2024, he started all 12 regular season contests at right tackle.
Much like the rest of USC’s offensive line, Murphy’s 2024 season was a bit of a rocky affair. His PFF grade for the season was 55.5, according to 247Sports.
Murphy was set to be USC’s most experienced returner on the offensive line in 2025. Now, with him hitting the portal and both Jonah Monheim and Emmanuel Pregnon moving on to the NFL, the Trojans will return just two starters from the struggling unit: Alani Noa and Elijah Paige.
Prior to this year, Lincoln Riley had expressed hesitancy to building an offensive line through the transfer portal. But given the current state of USC’s room, it appears he will not have much of a choice. The Trojans will need to go out and acquire some serious talent at the position if they want to have any shot at competing in the Big Ten next season.
Plain and simple, the Trojans have not recruited well enough at offensive line under Riley and Josh Henson. The majority of USC’s best offensive linemen of the past few years—Andrew Vorhees, Brett Neilon, Justin Dedich, and Monheim—have all been holdovers from the Clay Helton era.
While Riley and Henson have hit on a few transfers—namely Bobby Haskins and Pregnon—there have been far more whiffs than hits. Until that changes, with both transfers and high school recruits, the Trojans are not going to be serious contenders.