Jordan Addison made a great difference for USC this season. Let’s be very clear about that point.
One can make the argument that the Trojans would still have won 11 games without him. Tahj Washington was great. Kyle Ford made huge catches. Michael Jackson contributed to the wide receiver room, as did Mario Williams. Lincoln Riley made sure the ball was distributed to a lot of different players. The USC offense could attack from various angles. When Addison and Mario Williams were hurt in late October and early November, the USC passing game continued to post points in bunches.
However, Addison set the tone for this wide receiver room. He blew the doors off Stanford in Week 2 and caught everyone’s attention. That speed, that route-running precision, that attention to detail, opened up the rest of the field for his other wide receivers. We saw this later in the season, when he came back in time for the UCLA game and delivered a huge performance which was absolutely necessary in lifting USC over the top against the Bruins, 48-45.
Addison also made the game-winning catch against Oregon State in Week 4.
The awareness of how to manipulate defenders came through in this great piece of insight, courtesy of Shotgun Spratling of 247Sports:
#USC WR Jordan Addison told me he tried to have late hands on the game-winning TD catch, so the DB wouldn't have time to react. Said Caleb Williams' delivered a perfect throw.
On his wave to the crowd after scoring: "It's time to go home. Pack it up." pic.twitter.com/IJMc1JwNHZ
— Shotgun Spratling (@ShotgunSpr) September 25, 2022
Addison did great things at Pittsburgh and at USC. Now he is off to the NFL draft. He will not play in the Cotton Bowl in Tulane:
#USC star WR Jordan Addison planned to play in the Cotton Bowl, but had a minor setback with his ankle after the Pac 12 championship. The injury is not serious, but he wouldn’t have been full speed in the bowl game. So, he won’t play and is expected to declare for the NFL Draft.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) December 21, 2022
USC doesn’t win 11 games without Jordan Addison. He made his 2022 season — his one season at USC — count in a big way. Addison should be a top-15 pick for sure at the NFL draft, and very probably a top-10 selection. Jordan Addison won a lot of respect in his one year as a Trojan.
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