One of the details which was easy to notice about Shane Lee this past regular season is that he wore a cast in multiple games. You try being a major college football linebacker and making every tackle with a maximum of force and efficiency while wearing a cast. This was a tough road for Lee, who provided great leadership and a strong locker-room and practice-field presence for the Trojans, but whose body was not at full strength for a significant portion of the journey from Week 1 against Rice through the Pac-12 Championship Game.
What does it mean for USC to get Shane Lee for another year? The main hope is that if he can stay healthy, he will be the reliable tackler at linebacker USC didn’t have when Eric Gentry got hurt. Gentry being out, and Lee wearing a cast, certainly left USC’s linebackers in a limited position. Players were willing, and in many cases, they just didn’t have the talent … but in Lee’s case, he simply wasn’t playing at full strength. That mattered.
USC hopes it will get a full-strength, maximum-impact version of Lee next season. Health could lead to wealth for the Trojans.
This past season at USC, fourth-year junior Shane Lee made 75 tackles, including 6.5 for losses (with 2.5 sacks), plus 2 interceptions, 3 forced fumbles, a fumble recovery, and a deflection, appearing in 12 games.
Lee transferred to USC last winter from Alabama and quickly won over the Trojans’ locker room, earning captain honors from his teammates.
He participated in senior day activities prior to USC’s home finale against Notre Dame, and ultimately informed head coach Lincoln Riley that he would be sticking around for the 2023 campaign.
No cast, no limitations. That’s the hope for USC.
[mm-video type=video id=01gm9qwfp301nx1fxmsa playlist_id=none player_id=01f5k5y2jb3twsvdg4 image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01gm9qwfp301nx1fxmsa/01gm9qwfp301nx1fxmsa-5f1ce800029f353b16aab280fdc8f9aa.jpg]
[listicle id=54271]