Tag: Prophet Brown

USC’s 2024 spring game is dominated by the cornerback room

The USC secondary didn’t have any busts. Guys were clearly aware of their roles. It was beautiful to watch.

USC football head coach Lincoln Riley summed it up the best when looking at the Trojans’ 2024 spring game. He said, “The story of the day was the defense making the offense pay for their mistakes.” The attacking and opportunistic USC defense had four interceptions on the day, three of them coming from the cornerbacks.

The Trojans’ new defensive coordinator, D’Anton Lynn, has been stressing all year long that he was successful at UCLA implementing his scheme in one offseason by using a methodical installation of the essential elements of the defense. He added new pieces as the season began and continued. This allowed for consistency on the field, where the players knew what their assignment was. Players were able to make the play their role was designed to complete. The word “consistency” has been one of the themes of spring camp. 

I asked Doug Belk what is the one thing — over everything else — that he looks for in a cornerback to separate himself in a very talented and competitive defense. Belk had a one-word answer: “Consistency.” When Lincoln Riley talked about his talented true freshman from St. John Bosco, Marcelles Williams, he explained that he had an uncanny level of consistency for a true freshman corner.

During Saturday’s scrimmage, four of Belk’s cornerbacks made impressive plays. DeCarlos Nicholson intercepted a pass intended for Ja’Kobi Lane, displaying tight, physical coverage on the outside. Nicholson perfectly read the pass thrown inside by Jayden Maiava and took it away.

Williams, the younger brother of former Trojan safety Max Williams, made a highlight reel-worthy interception on the next drive. Williams baited Miller Moss underneath, dropped back, highpointed the ball, and made an athletic, leaping interception to take the ball away from Lane.

In a subsequent series, a third Trojan, Maliki Crawford, took advantage of a great play by defensive end Jide Abasiri’s bull rush. With Abasiri’s hand in Jake Jensen’s face, he never saw Crawford, who broke on the ball for the third defensive theft of the game.

Late in the scrimmage, cornerback Jacobe Covington tipped a pass from Moss that landed in the hands of nickel corner Prophet Brown. Brown took the interception back for a 100-plus-yard interception return for a touchdown, capping a successful day for Belk’s cornerbacks.

“That’s another example of the development. It’s plays that good defenses and good secondary players make, and we made most of them,” Riley explained. “We made plays on the ball. We didn’t really bust much the entire day. It’s a well-coached group. We have two of the best guys in the business that are coaching those guys, and when you have that, you see the results of it.”

USC will rely on the secondary to continue is marked improvement and shore up a defense that was much maligned in 2023 as it enters its first season in the Big Ten.  The turnovers are great, but Riley noted that it is the consistency of this unit throughout the game that will be a barometer for defensive success in 2024.

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USC football: Trojans land four-star corner Prophet Brown

The USC Trojans landed four-star cornerback Prophet Brown, a 2021 commit who announced his decision Sunday afternoon.

The Trojans got a surprise gift on Sunday afternoon, with four-star cornerback Prophet Brown announcing his commitment a day early, choosing to join USC in 2021.

Brown was choosing between Michigan, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Oregon and USC, and was expected to make his announcement on Monday afternoon before surprising everyone on Sunday.

Brown was initially ranked among the top running backs in the nation before being switched to cornerback, where he flew up the rankings at No. 126 overall by 247Sports, and the No. 10 corner. He is No. 206 in the composite rankings.

Brown joins Jaylin Smith as top USC cornerback recruits in the Class of 2021, a class that is ranked N. 7 in the nation and No. 2 in the PAC-12 at this point.

The five-foot-eleven, 180 pound corner will need to put on some muscle, but his dynamic athleticism and ball-hawking ability should make him an instant impact performer for the Trojans starting in 2021.

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2021 4-star spurns Michigan for PAC-12 school

Despite Giles Jackson’s best efforts, the California cornerback is staying home.

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You can’t win them all, it seems.

Though Michigan wide receiver Giles Jackson has been lobbying some of his compatriots back home in California with varying levels of success, one chose a different adventure entirely.

Within the last few weeks to months, Jackson managed to coerce fellow California wide receivers Cristian Dixon and Xavier Worthy — both four-stars — he continuously worked at Prophet Brown, a four-star athlete (primarily cornerback) who hails from Elk Grove (CA) Monterey Trail.

While early indications were that Brown — who had Michigan in his top six — would end up at Oklahoma, the 247Sports Crystal Ball took a dramatic shift towards him staying closer to home, with the three votes for the Sooners shifting to USC, while four others were added.

That ended up holding true, as Brown pledged to become a Trojan on Sunday afternoon.

Michigan continues to hold strong, however, with 20 commits and the nation’s No. 8 class in 2021.

 

2021 four-star Michigan target sets decision date

The Wolverines target will choose between Michigan, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Oregon, USC and Nebraska.

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56 miles from where Michigan’s emerging wide receiver Giles Jackson went to high school in Oakley, California, there’s a four-star athlete that Jackson has constantly been working to lure to join him in Ann Arbor.

Back in March, 2021 Elk Grove (CA) Monterey Trail four-star running back Prophet Brown put Michigan in his top six — along with Nebraska, Oregon, Oklahoma, USC and Notre Dame — and Jackson frequently took to Twitter, oftentimes just quote-tweeting or tweeting directly at Brown saying ‘Hi @ProphetPb.’ It was a tactic he used with a fellow Californian in wideout Xavier Worthy, who seemed destined to pledge to Oregon. However, last week, he chose the Wolverines as his future team.

Could Jackson be two-for-two when it comes to persuading players from the Golden State?

We’ll know shortly enough, as Brown announced on Twitter that he’s committing in a matter of days, as he plans to make his pledge on July 20.

According to 247Sports’ proprietary rankings, Brown is rated as the No. 127 player in the country, regardless of position. He’s also the 10th-best corner and No. 11 player in the state of California.

However, there are currently three 247Sports Crystal Balls in for Brown, all indicating that he’s likely to end up in Norman, Oklahoma. Still, with Jackson and Michigan RB coach Jay Harbaugh on the case as his primary recruiter — especially considering the recent commitment of the aforementioned Worthy — July 20 at 1 p.m. PST will certainly be a time to tune in and see what happens on that front.

At the high school level, Brown plays corner, running back and wide receiver, and runs a reported 10.9 100-meter dash, just a hair slower than Worthy — who is considered to be something of a speedster at the wideout position.

And, in case you were wondering, at the news that Brown in nearing a decision, Jackson has already said his piece on Twitter:

Watch Brown’s junior highlights below:

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Rivals: Irish in on top RB’s but not seen as leaders

Notre Dame has offered many backs in the 2021 cycle and face uphill battles to gain a commitment from one of them.

There is a lot of unknown as to who will lineup beside quarterback Ian Book for the 2020 season. What we do know is that after this year, the Irish will graduate Jafar Armstrong, Avery Davis, and Stanford transfer Trevor Speights, although each of them could petition the NCAA for an extra year of eligibility. If both opt to move on, the roster would only have 4 scholarship backs remaining.

This probably isn’t a number Brian Kelly and running back’s coach Lance Taylor want to see, so getting a quality running back in the 2021 is extremely important. Rivals took a look at the best 5 remaining uncommitted backs and the Irish have offered all but one of them.

The Irish have offered Texas’ Camar Wheaton, but at this moment he is viewed as a pipedream for Notre Dame. Mike Farrell, Rivals national director of recruiting, see Oklahoma as the leader in Wheaton’s recruitment. Michigan’s Donovan Edwards, however, is a much more realistic possibility for the Irish. Edwards had intended to visit multiple schools over the summer, but COVID-19 has stopped everyone from visiting schools. Although Farrell sees Michigan as the leader for Edwards, he also sees the back’s recruitment to drag on for a few more months prior to a commitment. If the Irish push hard for Edwards, I could see him spurning the Wolverines and heading a bit south to South Bend.

Like Wheaton, another Texas star in LJ Johnson has an Irish offer, but Notre Dame is not seen as a player in his recruitment. Prophet Brown, a California prospect, is a back that I really think could be a great fit in the Irish offense. Unfortunately, like Edwards, the Irish are trailing in Brown’s recruitment to the supposed leader in Oklahoma. Here is the kicker, the Sooners are in on Wheaton and are looking at Brown as more of a defensive back. These two factors could play a huge role in the Irish being able to get Brown’s attention and ultimately land a commitment from the back.

Getting a quality back in this class is paramount, the depth needs to be addressed. It could be another graduate transfer like Speights or the Irish could land one these talented backs. Look for Notre Dame to make a push for a 2021 back to create some solid depth for Taylor’s group.