Category: Trojans in NFL

Why Sam Darnold is the answer for 49ers at QB while Brock Purdy recovers

This is not as complicated as it might seem for the 49ers.

If you think Sam Darnold is the answer for the San Francisco 49ers, you’d be wrong. He isn’t “the” answer. He is, however, a short-term answer before the main answer, Brock Purdy, returns to full health.

Purdy is the 49ers’ best option at quarterback when healthy. He earned that status by leading the Niners to the NFC Championship Game this past January. The real question we are dealing with here is whether Darnold is the better option than Trey Lance, a quarterback the Niners bet big on by taking him with the No. 3 pick in the 2021 NFL draft.

One could make the argument that because Lance represents such a huge investment on the part of the San Francisco organization, the 49ers need to give Lance every last possible chance to succeed or — at the very least — show what he can do. Some people will surely say that if Kyle Shanahan puts Darnold ahead of Lance on the depth chart, the 49ers are giving up on Lance way too early.

To be sure, Lance has not worked out the way the Niners hoped. However, his developmental arc can’t be force-marched or sped up. It is what it is. Darnold, who has dealt with terrible situations with the New York Jets and Carolina Panthers, has finally found a good NFL organization. If Brock Purdy can thrive within the Niners’ system, Darnold can at least be a game manager who allows San Francisco to win games with its physical line play and its defensive strength.

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Why the Atlanta Falcons could tank for Caleb Williams in the 2024 NFL draft

The Falcons are riding with Desmond Ridder this year. If he is less than great, should they go all-in for Caleb Williams? #NFLDraft

The Carolina Panthers got Bryce Young. The Houston Texans got C.J. Stroud. Those two NFL franchises made a conscious decision to take their quarterback of the future now, instead of waiting.

This means those two organizations are out of the Caleb Williams sweepstakes at next year’s NFL draft. Which NFL clubs are in the heart of the conversation? You will see plenty of ink spilled about several teams’ aspiration to “Crumble for Caleb,” but which team has the best case to make for falling to the No. 1 pick next year?

One team in this group of potential Caleb Williams landing spots is the Atlanta Falcons.

Falcons Wire wrote the following:

“For a team like the Atlanta Falcons, who have failed to hold a winning record in over 2,000 days, their appetite for success outweighs the desire for any future college prospect. Head coach Arthur Smith is under pressure to make the playoffs this season, and he’s betting on second-year quarterback Desmond Ridder to help him get there.

“While Ridder has earned Smith’s confidence, those around the league aren’t sold on the former Cincinnati star as the long-term answer quite yet. In fact, Bleacher Report listed Atlanta as one of six teams that should consider tanking for USC quarterback Caleb Williams in the 2024 NFL draft.”

Ridder would need to be appreciably impressive this season for the Falcons to feel comfortable with his evolution. If this is a stagnant and unsuccessful year for Ridder, and the NFL season arrives at Week 12 with Atlanta being one or two games out of the No. 1 pick, a tank tactic could become not just realistic, but desirable.

Check out Falcons Wire’s other stories of note:

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One NFL team could choose between two Lincoln Riley QBs

The Arizona Cardinals could have to choose between Kyler Murray and Caleb Williams in 2024.

The Arizona Cardinals might soon have to decide between two Lincoln Riley-coached quarterbacks when mapping out their future.

Let’s read an excerpt from an article at Cards Wire by Jess Root, who writes:

“ESPN’s Jordan Reid has projections for 2024 and the Cardinals have the first two picks in the draft.

“Who are their selections? They select USC quarterback Caleb Williams first overall and then with the second pick (from the Houston Texans), they take Ohio State receiver Marvin Harrison Jr.

“This assumes the Cardinals are the worst team in the league and that the Texans follow them. Some might be excited at the thought. However, it does mean bad things for the Cardinals.

“If they are the worst team in the league, it means quarterback Kyler Murray either returned very late in the year or that he was bad in his return from his recovery from a torn ACL.”

Do the Cardinals really want to start over? If they choose Caleb Williams (provided they are in a position to do so), they would be starting over. It’s a legitimate debate as to whether they should prefer Caleb over Murray, given that Murray is their guy, the focus of a lot of investments over several years.

Yet, Caleb Williams has more upside than Kyler Murray. It’s not an easy choice if the Cardinals are in position to make it.

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The astounding, incredible fact about Anthony Munoz at the 1980 NFL draft

Munoz told @TrojanConquests and @LBCTrojan something that seems virtually impossible to believe, 43 years later. #NFLDraft

Yes, it’s true that Anthony Munoz had multiple knee injuries in his playing career at USC. Munoz did not play full seasons for a majority of his collegiate career, missing multiple games against Notre Dame and also missing the Rose Bowl Game before finally playing in the Granddaddy in his Trojan finale in 1980 against Ohio State. It was reasonable for NFL teams to worry about Munoz and have reservations about his status as an NFL prospect heading into the 1980 NFL draft. There’s nothing wrong with that.

However, if any NFL team had reservations about Munoz’s health and durability, wasn’t the obvious solution to work out the offensive lineman and directly see what he was — and wasn’t — capable of?

Munoz shared some amazing stories with Tim Prangley and Rick Anaya at Trojan Conquest Live in early June. Munoz participated in a workout conducted by the Cincinnati Bengals and head coach Forrest Gregg, who was himself an all-time-great offensive lineman and therefore someone who knew what Munoz could do for the Bengals if he was physically up to the task.

The Bengals were smart enough to work out Munoz.

Guess what? No other NFL team did.

That’s right: Not one other NFL team held a workout for Anthony Munoz, to see up close if his body was ready for the rigors of the NFL.

The New York Jets picked at No. 2 in the 1980 NFL draft. They took a receiver from Texas, Lam Jones, who never made even one Pro Bowl and was a complete bust. Imagine if the Jets had worked out Anthony Munoz and saw what the Bengals saw. They might have picked Munoz at No. 2 instead of allowing him to fall to No. 3, where Cincinnati stepped in and took him.

That’s why the Jets are the Jets … and that’s why the Bengals, with Munoz, made two Super Bowls in the 1980s.

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Aaron Murray says USC superstar Caleb Williams is the next Patrick Mahomes

Murray, the former Georgia QB, said Caleb won’t need to sit on the bench for a year the way Mahomes did with the Chiefs.

USC quarterback Caleb Williams won the 2022 Heisman Trophy after throwing for 4,537 yards, 42 touchdowns and just five interceptions. He now returns for what should be his final season in college football. He is the projected No. 1 pick in the 2024 NFL draft.

The hype for Williams, Lincoln Riley and the Trojans football squad is real in 2023, the highest it’s been in a long time. Williams will lead the way for the Trojans this season.

The Trojans fell short of the College Football Playoff last year after being four quarters away from a berth in the four-team event. A 47-24 loss to Utah in the Pac-12 Championship Game knocked them out of the playoff, but Williams and the Trojans are loaded and better than last season.

Football analyst (and former Georgia quarterback) Aaron Murray talked about Williams’ potential in an interview on the ‘3 and Out’ Podcast with John Middlekauff. He said that, as of today, Williams is as good a prospect as Patrick Mahomes is as a player for the Kansas City Cheifs. He sees Caleb as everything that Pat Mahomes is, but without all of the developments he made as a backup over his first NFL season.

“Caleb will be the first player picked in the draft this year,” Murray stated. “I’m just such a big fan of Mahomes and what Mahomes has done. And, to me, he is Mahomes today. There isn’t the work that Andy Reid needs to put into it of sitting behind Alex Smith for a year, refining his tools, and kind of giving him the keys to the car the following year.”

“He is Mahomes. But he is more ready to play in the NFL earlier than Mahomes was. I think he’s a better prospect,” Murray said. “Right now? Caleb? He’s special. I mean he’s truly special.”

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One central reason Anthony Munoz found an NFL home with the Bengals

Munoz told @TrojanConquests and @LBCTrojan that a coaching change made a defining difference in his NFL career.

The Cincinnati Bengals, in 1980, were still led by Paul Brown, the team’s owner and founder. Before the football legend died in 1991, he was still the lead decision-maker for the organization. To a considerable extent, Brown can be viewed as the main reason the Bengals picked Anthony Munoz with the No. 3 selection in the 1980 NFL draft, a move which changed Munoz’s life and the Bengals’ trajectory as a franchise.

Yet, Brown’s selection of Munoz didn’t happen on an island. Brown made two coaching changes before the 1980 season which smoothed the path for Munoz. One was the hire of offensive line coach Jim McNally. The more central and important of those two changes was the decision to release head coach Homer Rice and hire Forrest Gregg, who had coached the Cleveland Browns for three seasons and had spent 1979 coaching in the CFL with the Toronto Argonauts.

If you don’t know who Forrest Gregg was before he became the coach of the Bengals, here’s the essential, central fact about the man: Gregg was part of the Green Bay Packers’ offensive line on the dynastic Vince Lombardi teams of the 1960s. Gregg was as good an offensive lineman as the NFL had seen at the time. He was a legend of the game when the Bengals hired him as head coach, even though he had not registered a top-tier coaching achievement.

Notably, Munoz became the man who enabled Gregg to achieve richly as an NFL coach. It was Munoz who transformed the Bengals into a Super Bowl-caliber team in 1981. Veteran quarterback Ken Anderson needed an elite lineman and pass protector to distribute the ball to elite receivers such as Isaac Curtis and Cris Collinsworth.

The main point to emphasize is that Gregg’s background as an offensive lineman enabled him to see and appreciate the value and importance of picking Munoz.

Watch Munoz tell this and related stories in his one-hour interview with Tim Prangley and Rick Anaya at Trojan Conquest Live. The USC YouTube show airs Sundays at 9 p.m. Eastern and 6 p.m. Pacific this summer.

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USC football analyst explains why Mekhi Blackmon should thrive with Vikings

Mekhi Blackmon is 1 of 2 “Minnesota Trojans” alongside Jordan Addison. He should do well in the NFL with the Vikings.

The NFL preseason is roughly one month away. Mekhi Blackmon and Jordan Addison are both preparing for their NFL rookie seasons with the Minnesota Vikings.

USC football analyst Josh Webb explained why Blackmon is likely to be a good pro in Minnesota, using last season’s Oregon State game as an example:

“Mekhi Blackmon set up USC’s victory against Oregon State last season by preventing OSU from scoring on one of its threatening possessions,” Webb wrote. “Though the Beavers would later score to take the lead, this interception gave USC a chance to head down the field with the game still being a one-score contest.

“Blackmon defended that route beautifully. Rather than getting aggressive by fighting with Tyjon Lindsey and risking a flag, he works his positioning knowing he only has him to worry about. He gains the inside and continues to work until rather easily picking the ball off as though he had been the intended receiver the whole time. It looked like he was the receiver because he occupied that position on the field instead of ceding it to Lindsey and allowing him to dictate the 50-50 ball. It’s a veteran play by a guy with four years of experience.”

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USC’s Mark Carrier, Dennis Thurman make 2024 College FB Hall of Fame ballot

Two great #USC defensive stars, both in the secondary, made the latest College Football Hall of Fame ballot.

The new College Football Hall of Fame ballot, which will be used for the selection of members in the Class of 2024, has been released.

Two USC Trojans made the ballot, both from the secondary.

Mark Carrier and Dennis Thurman are two elite players from the Men of Troy’s glorious past. USC has had two Mark Carriers, so we remind you that this Mark Carrier (the one on the Hall of Fame ballot) is the safety, not the wide receiver.

The National Football Foundation offered notes on each player in conjunction with the ballot release.

On Carrier, the NFF gathered these details:

“Two-time First Team All-American (1988-89), earning unanimous honors in 1989…1989 Jim Thorpe Award winner as the nation’s top defensive back…Two-time First Team All-Conference selection…Led the Pac-10 in interceptions in 1989 with seven.”

This was the entry for Thurman:

“Two-time First Team All-American who led Trojans to four consecutive postseason wins, including the 1974 national championship at the Rose Bowl…Two-time all-conference selection who helped USC to two Pac-8 titles.”

We have written about Carrier and Thurman. Check our archives for more on these and other USC Trojans who made it big in the NFL.

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USC legend Anthony Munoz tells tons of great stories in one-hour conversation

Munoz talked about his #USC career, his NFL journey, his faith, and a lot more with @TrojanConquests and @LBCTrojan.

We had been promoting the Anthony Munoz episode of Trojan Conquest Live throughout the past week. We had told you that Munoz would appear on the YouTube broadcast at The Voice of College Football with co-hosts Tim Prangley and Rick Anaya.

That broadcast took place on Sunday, June 4. It was as good as advertised, if not better. If you watched it, you’ll definitely want to share the link with others. If you missed the show, you can sit down and watch it when you have time.

Tim and Rick didn’t need to ask Anthony Munoz extremely complicated questions, because they didn’t have to. Munoz has a powerful life story to share, with so many great memories from USC and the Cincinnati Bengals, but also a powerful story of faith and perseverance.

Everyone who knows anything about Anthony Munoz is aware of his injuries at USC, the fortitude he needed to display in order to become an elite pro, and his success with the Bengals. The power of this interview lies in the determination Munoz displayed to overcome so many different obstacles in his life. It’s the details which make Munoz’s story come alive.

No spoilers. You’ll see in the interview how inspiring Anthony Munoz really is. It’s a treat for USC fans and football fans everywhere. Congratulations to Tim and Rick on landing Anthony for their show and doing such a great job!

Please consider subscribing to the USC channel at The Voice of College Football, for more great interviews such as this one. Also consider joining the USC channel as a member and getting exclusive bonus content.

Here’s the full one-hour show with Anthony Munoz:

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Nelson Agholor and Tee Martin reconnect in the AFC North with Ravens

Tee Martin was Agholor’s WR coach at #USC. The band is back together in Baltimore, and Andrew Vorhees is along for the ride.

Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Nelson Agholor and wide receiver coach Tee Martin are reunited this season. The former Trojans will try to bring a Super Bowl to their new city.

Joining the Ravens allows Agholor to reconnect with Ravens quarterback coach Tee Martin, who was Agholor’s wide receiver coach at USC.

Agholor was primarily a running back in high school at Berkeley Prep HS in Tampa (FL) rushing for 1,983 yards and 28 touchdowns as a senior while averaging 9.5 yards per carry.

Tee Martin helped Agholor make a smooth transition from running back to wide receiver with the Trojans and he won a starting job as a freshman at USC.

Baltimore agreed to a one year deal with the former Trojan in March paying him a base of $3.25 million with incentives that make it worth up to $6.25 million.

The eight-year veteran has compiled 4,246 yards on 340 catches with 31 touchdowns throughout five seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles, one with the Las Vegas Raiders and two with the New England Patriots.

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