Tag: Kyon Barrs

USC’s Kyon Barrs gets tryout offer with Tennessee Titans

Kyon Barrs gets a chance at a Titans rookie minicamp.

The NFL-eligible members of the 2023 USC Trojans are trying to find homes in pro football in 2024. Some players were picked in the NFL draft. Others have signed deals as undrafted free agents. Others are getting tryout offers with NFL teams. One player in this latter category is defensive lineman Kyon Barrs. The Trojan who transferred from Arizona has received a tryout invitation from the Tennessee Titans.

Kyon Barrs was not the hugely explosive, high-impact player USC hoped he would be. That goes for a lot of players on the 2023 USC defense, a group which consistently and widely failed to reach its potential. Bear Alexander was an exceptionally strong player on last year’s defense, but he was the exception in that regard, not the rule. Kyon Barrs was not expcted to be taken in the 2024 NFL draft, and he wasn’t. No one should be surprised that a minicamp tryout offer is all he could attain. He is not getting shortchanged here. Now is his big chance to step up his game and make a statement. Let’s see what he can do with the Titans.

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Kyon Barrs is willing to do the no-glory gruntwork for USC

Kyon Barrs is a player whose impact won’t fully show up on the stat sheet.

Kyon Barrs’ value to USC probably won’t emerge in the form of splash plays or highlight-reel hits. Barrs will be busy absorbing bodies, soaking up opposing offensive linemen so that teammates can make big hits and important tackles.

USC football analyst Josh Webb had this to say about Barrs:

“Most of what Barrs provides isn’t sexy, but’s it’s the anchor and heart of some defenses,” Webb began. “If you’re going to put a player like Bear Alexander on your line, Barrs is the complement you need. Alexander is young and loaded with talent, but how much Kirby Smart was able to imprint upon him at Georgia is relatively unknown. As much as USC fans don’t want to hear it, Alexander is as much of a potential point of failure as he is the key to solving USC’s problems. 

“Alex Grinch bringing in Barrs, who has four years of Pac-12 experience as an anchor to a defensive line stocked with original SEC recruits, is a shrewd and intelligent maneuver. Barrs knows what coaches want of him. He knows how to remain consistent. If he should turn out to be the type of player who gets the best out of his linemates, we’ll definitely be coming back to this transfer as one of the reasons USC was able to succeed this year. 

“Sometimes you don’t need sexy. Sometimes you need consistent and productive, guy showing up every day, doing his job, and doing it extremely well. Guys willing to do what Barrs does are part of championship rosters. The tasks they perform build foundations for success. There are a lot of big names on the transfer list, but there are also several yeomen. Barrs may do yeoman work, but you’ll know his name by the end of the year.”

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Kyon Barrs’ experience and consistency should stabilize USC defensive front

Kyon Barrs is a veteran who provides instant stability on the roster while younger, newer players learn how to play.

Being a good player is an inherent benefit to a football team, but being a good fit and a helpful teammate adds to a winning equation.

Such is the value of Kyon Barrs to USC and to teammate Bear Alexander in particular.

We talked to USC football analyst Josh Webb about this dynamic on the Trojans’ defensive line:

“It’s no secret that USC is in need of massive improvements along the defensive line. People notice when units struggle,” Webb told us. “Utah had a cookout against USC’s defense the first time last season, and then a barbeque in the Pac-12 Championship Game. If Alex Grinch wishes to remain employed at USC beyond 2023, the USC defense needs to be stingy and not charitable. 

“Fortunately for Grinch, he has received a tremendous amount of help at key positions, including the defensive line. While several defensive linemen joined the Trojans, Kyon Barrs stands out. He has played at the collegiate level since he was a true freshman, so not only is USC getting four years of experience, but USC and Barrs get the benefit of a bonus year due to the COVID-19 eligibility allowance. This is a guy who knows how to work his way onto the field; USC sorely needs that on the defensive line. 

“One of the things Barrs provides is a solid base on the interior of the defensive line. How he is used in Grinch’s 3-4 and 3-3-5 base remains to be seen, but Barrs is excellent against the run and will provide tremendous support to Bear Alexander, who will occupy the zero-technique spot in the 3-4 base. There’s a reason USC was so aggressive in its recruitment of Alexander. His build and base are a perfect fit for that defense, assuming he works out. USC aimed to ensure he receives next-level development by pairing him with someone as consistent as Barrs was for Arizona.”

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Kyon Barrs knows his role on 2023 USC defense

Kyon Barrs is very clear about his main tasks along USC’s defensive front. Now, it’s just a matter of executing.

Team players are precious in all team sports. They don’t care about the statistics or whether they make the highlight-reel play. They care about doing what puts their unit and their team in position to succeed.

In the sport of football, defensive players with a team-first mentality don’t care about making the sack or the big hit. They care about shaping plays in ways which will stop the opposing offense. If they occupy two linemen so that the linebacker can come in and finish the tackle, they’re happy. If they plug a gap so that the running back has to bounce outside into the arms of a separate nearby defender, they’re happy.

Whatever it takes to help the team.

Kyon Barrs, who is expected to be the starting nose tackle for USC this year, is comfortable being that team player who puts his teammates in position to make plays.

He talked to 247Sports:

“I feel like here, they’re kind of asking me to do more movement,” Barrs said. “I can move to the opposite A-gap or move to the outside. Just different movements really, and if I need to plug the holes, I’ll plug the holes.”

Lincoln Riley said this to 247Sports about Barrs:

“Kyon, obviously another guy that we had had experience playing against and obviously studying him in the league, we thought he was one of the more explosive interior defensive linemen in the league,” said Riley. “And had a few years of pretty good tape that showed up.”

One year of good tape at USC is what the Trojans need from this team-first player.

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Lincoln Riley continues to raid Pac-12 schools for transfers, one of his best moves since joining USC

The #USC Trojans and Lincoln Riley are not only getting good #Pac12 transfers; they’re getting players who know a lot about other conference competitors.

The USC Trojans and Lincoln Riley made noise when they poached some transfer portal players from the Pac-12 last season: Brenden Rice and Mekhi Blackmon from Colorado, Austin Jones from Stanford, Eric Gentry from Arizona State, and Travis Dye from Oregon. USC grabbed lots of important players who were absolutely essential in the Trojans’ seven-win turnaround from 2021, when they won only four games. If USC hadn’t raided the Pac-12 for elite transfers, the Trojans would not have won 11 games this past season. They probably wouldn’t have won 10.

Riley and USC struck again, this time nabbing Arizona Wildcats DL transfer Kyon Barrs. The new Trojan posted a video to his Twitter page with a USC jersey with the #FightOn emoji, and Shotgun Spratling of 247Sports confirmed the move.

Barrs is from Murrieta, California, and returns close to home. His arrival is a boost to the USC defense, something Alex Grinch will be ecstatic about.

Barrs finished the year with 39 total tackles in 2022, and he had five sacks with 33 total tackles in 2021.

Barrs was excited about the decision, as shown in another tweet praising the Trojans.

The Trojans’ defensive issues came to light in the final stretch of the season. Those flaws formed the central reason why they ended up falling short in the Pac-12 title game. There’s no secret that finding help on that side of the ball should be at the forefront of their offseason plans.

Barrs had a visit with USC earlier this week and was scheduled to visit LSU and Miami, but the Trojans didn’t let him leave without a commitment.

There are certain things Lincoln Riley must learn how to do better at USC, but grabbing Pac-12 transfers with a fully-formed knowledge base about other Pac-12 football teams is not one of them.

This has been one of Riley’s best chess moves since taking the job at USC.

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LSU offers Pac-12 defensive linemen

LSU is looking to beef up its interior defensive line with Kyon Barrs, a transfer from Arizona.

Transfer portal season has begun, and the LSU staff is well at work.

[autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] and defensive line coach [autotag]Jamar Cain[/autotag] have dolled out a scholarship offer to [autotag]Kyon Barrs[/autotag], a defensive line transfer from Arizona.

Barrs has significant experience, playing over 1,500 snaps in his four years at Arizona. In 2021, Barrs was one of the best DT’s in the Pac-12, earning all-conference honors. He started every game in 2022 and racked up eight TFLs and five sacks.

LSU’s looking good on the interior next year, but [autotag]Jaquelin Roy[/autotag] is expected to declare for the draft, leaving LSU with production to replace. However, the room will still be headlined by [autotag]Mekhi Wingo[/autotag] and [autotag]Maason Smith[/autotag], who could form one of the stronger interior combos in the country.

The Tigers could also return [autotag]Jacobian Guillory[/autotag], but depth is a concern. Adding Barrs would solidify an already strong unit and give LSU comfort should something happen to Wingo or Smith.

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Blitz-happy Wildcats could cause some problems for Oregon offense

Arizona blitzes most of the time when on defense, and that will create a unique challenge for the Ducks.

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For a team that’s rebuilding, the most difficult part is trying to figure out what kind of defense, or offense for that matter is best to run according to the personnel that is on the roster right now.

Arizona has decided the way to go is to blitz the quarterback. And if that doesn’t work, then blitz again.

After three games, quite literally, it’s been a hit-and-miss strategy for the Wildcats under first-year head coach Jedd Fisch and defensive coordinator Don Brown. Arizona knew exactly what it was getting in Brown as the long-time assistant coach has the moniker of “Dr. Blitz.”

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But the Wildcats are prone to giving up the big play. BYU scored a touchdown of 67 yards in the first game and then San Diego State found the end zone on plays of 55, 25, and 40 yards, all in the first half. All three opponents, including Northern Arizona, had their fair share of plays of 20 yards that were not scoring plays.

That’s the bad.

The good comes from ranking second in the Pac-12 with 21 tackles for loss, only behind Oregon State. Nose tackle Kyon Barrs, who leads the team with 3.5 tackles for loss, and cornerback Christian Roland-Wallace, who is considered to be a premier shutdown corner.

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The stats don’t bear it out (just one interception thus far) because opponents tend to throw on the other side of the field. In Arizona’s five games in 2020, he ranked third on the team in tackles and tied for the team lead in pass break-ups.

Oregon offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead says Roland-Wallace can cause havoc for an offense in multiple ways.

“His length and his physicality in the run game and at the line of scrimmage (make him a challenge),” he said. “He has very good short-distance quickness and the ability to redirect and the scheme that Coach Brown utilizes gives him a lot of opportunities to press at the line of scrimmage and challenge the receivers.”

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While opponents know the Wildcats will be blitzing, the difficult part, according to Oregon head coach Mario Cristobal is figuring out where it’s coming from and prepare for every possible scenario.

“The challenge this week is two personnel groupings that are very different in what they do out of them,” he said. “We have to be at our very best, got to study them thoroughly and got to have a good plan because they do affect the quarterback. They get a lot of penetration and create negative plays in the run game as well.”

As long as the Ducks get more explosion plays than negative ones, they should be just fine when the final horn sounds on this contest.

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