USC lineman Andrew Vorhees will rehab his injury — no Cotton Bowl, will prepare for NFL draft

Andrew Vorhees rightly wants to heal up before the NFL combine and draft. His tremendous #USC career has officially come to an end. #FightOn

Andrew Vorhees has played his last game as a USC Trojan. With four weeks between the Pac-12 Championship Game (which he missed due to injury) and the 2023 Cotton Bowl against Tulane, there was a possibility that Vorhees might play in the game and get a final football showcase before the NFL scouting combine and the 2023 NFL draft next April.

On Wednesday, the news came down from Lincoln Riley, who said that Vorhees wants to get fully healthy and prepare for the NFL. That brings his decorated USC career to a close.

Vorhees will be projected to be a first-round NFL draft pick, attempting to achieve what Austin Jackson and Alijah Vera-Tucker also did. Everyone saw his value to this team and to the USC program in the Pac-12 title game. Not having Vorhees on the field mattered against a physical Utah frontline. Mason Murphy was no match for Utah’s backup defensive linemen. Vorhees would have created a much more favorable set of matchups at the line of scrimmage.

Vorhees was a true iron man for USC:

The enormity of his contributions is matched only by the quality of his character and leadership. Andrew Vorhees will be remembered as a very significant USC Trojan, not just a good one. He made sure Year 1 of the Lincoln Riley era was a success. He helped Caleb Williams win the Heisman Trophy. The USC community is immensely grateful to Andrew Vorhees for everything he has given USC over the past several years.

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