The USC Trojans have landed some big-time players in the transfer portal, but their work is far from done. More precisely, USC has addressed a few very specific needs in the portal, but other big needs remain unmet.
One of them: pass rushing. USC needs a pass rushing stud to put a lot of heat on opposing quarterbacks, especially since the 2023 Pac-12 Conference is likely to have a lot of high-quality quarterbacks.
Bo Nix of Oregon. Michael Penix of Washington. Shedeur Sanders of Colorado. The list goes on. USC needs a defense which is more disruptive, more imposing, more able to make opposing offenses and quarterbacks uncomfortable.
Braden Fiske can do that.
The pass rusher from Western Michigan is — in the eyes of most college football portal analysts — down to USC, Florida State, and Notre Dame. That’s a high-profile collection of schools in a three-way battle for an equation-changing defender who can make life miserable for opposing QBs.
Don’t worry too much about USC having a top-10 recruiting class. It’s more about the quality of the roster, which includes the recruiting class but also involves portal acquisitions. Doing well in both areas is what counts the most.
We talked about this with Mark Rogers at The Voice of College Football.
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