USC football camp winds down: ‘Captain America’ makes a huge impression
With USC wrapping up fall camp this week, all eyes are now on its early season opener Aug. 26 against San Jose State.
Captain America to the rescue
ILB Tackett Curtis has been a formidable defensive leader during preseason camp. (Gary Coronado / LAT)
As USC’s linebackers cycled through tackling drills at the start of Wednesday’s practice, Eric Gentry walked the sideline like a tightrope, biding his time. The inside linebacker had been limited since the start of camp while dealing with the same ankle injury that hampered him last season.
His limited participation in camp, along with the injury absence of Shane Lee at the same position, might have inspired panic at this same point last year.
But that’s where Captain America swoops in.
“Captain America” is Tackett Curtis, the Trojans’ hyped freshman linebacker whose arrival at USC already has folks equating him with the first Avenger. No other freshman has quite generated Marvel-caliber buzz during camp.
“Tackett Curtis, oh my goodness,” said running back MarShawn Lloyd. “Tackett is amazing.”
“If I had to call him something, he’s a destroyer,” added Caleb Williams.
“I’ve been around a lot of freshmen the past couple years,” rush end Jamil Muhammad said, “and they don’t come quite like him.”
That doesn’t mean Curtis is a finished product just yet. He’s still learning the scheme, still sharpening his technique. But there’s been no hesitation on his part as he’s been thrown into the mix at inside linebacker.
That position is deeper than it used to be. But if Gentry and Lee aren’t ready to go by next Saturday, Captain America may be thrust into action right away.
From running back to receiver
Flashy Raleek Brown has switched from RB to WR. (Ashley Landis / AP)
Raleek Brown played all of one snap in the slot for USC last season. So it probably shouldn’t come as a surprise that his full-time switch to slot receiver has endured a few rough patches this fall.
“When you make a position change, no matter how talented you are — Raleek’s obviously a very talented player — there’s gonna be a transition period,” coach Lincoln Riley said. “This is not just go out there and run a route or two, right, and this is not just go out there and learn to block this one thing. Like, there’s a lot more to it.”
It’s hard to say where Brown stands in that transition process. He was still technically a running back in the spring, when coaches started experimenting with him on the perimeter. He’s now listed as a full-time receiver. But how coaches will use him is still anyone’s guess. Brown said during camp that he’s still expecting to take some handoffs as a running back, too.
As a receiver, it may take time to find his footing. The question is whether he’ll do it quickly enough to make the sort of mark he was expected to make this season.
Malachi Nelson improves
Highly touted QB Malachi Nelson has significantly improved since spring football practices. (Gary Coronado / LAT)
When Malachi Nelson joined USC in the spring, the first glimpses we got of USC’s five-star heir apparent at quarterback suggested it might be some time before he was ready to take the reins.
But his progress this preseason has been “much, much better,” Riley said.
Part of that is a clean bill of health. Riley estimated Nelson was operating at about 50% of his physical capabilities in the spring as he recovered from shoulder surgery.
“We’re glad that he went through it. He’s glad that he went through it,” Riley said. “It’s certainly made him better.”
It’s unlikely that Nelson unseats Miller Moss as the Trojans’ No. 2 quarterback. But Nelson’s progress sets up what should be a series competition next spring to replace Williams. Though, given Riley’s propensity for dipping into the portal, it’s possible Williams’ replacement next season isn’t even on the roster yet.
In a class that included three of the top pass-catching prospects in the country, Ja’Kobi Lane arrived at USC entirely under the radar. But that’s no longer the case after camp.
Early reviews indicate the 6-foot-4 freshman made quite a first impression. Coaches and teammates have said he’s faster than expected. Receivers coach Dennis Simmons called his ball skills “elite.”
“Being that tall and how athletic he is, the way he’s able to break down a curl so low, that’s not normal,” fellow receiver Kyron Hudson said. “Seeing that in his game, he’s one of those receivers, where if the QB throws the ball up, he’s definitely catching it every time.”
How many balls might actually be thrown to Lane this season remains to be seen. USC has a cavernously deep receiver room. Not to mention three other highly touted freshman receivers in Zachariah Branch, Duce Robinson and Makai Lemon. But the strong start hasn’t gone unnoticed.
OL Jonah Monheim gives Caleb Williams some room to operate. (Gina Ferazzi / LAT)
There’s still time for tinkering and some questions at right tackle, but USC appears to have settled into a starting five up front.
Jonah Monheim has been locked in at left tackle, while Justin Dedich and Jarrett Kingston have stayed in their spots at center and right guard since spring. Left guard was the glaring question coming into camp, but Emmanuel Pregnon has stuck at that spot since last week, while Gino Quinones has shifted to taking reps as the second-team center.
USC offensive line coach Josh Henson said Wednesday that the right tackle position is still up in the air between Michael Tarquin and Mason Murphy. But if the rest of camp has been any indication, the spot is still Tarquin’s to lose.
Foreman falling?
DL Korey Foreman has struggled to make an impact with the Trojans, but no one will ever forget his victory-saving pick vs UCLA. (Gary Coronado / LAT)
When USC defensive line coach Shaun Nua was asked at the start of camp about Korey Foreman, Nua struck an optimistic note about the frustrating former five-star recruit. He said that Foreman had come a long way from the previous year, when he struggled just to string two consecutive practices together.
By the end of camp, Foreman was sidelined again, limited through a critical stretch of camp with what appears to be a shoulder injury. It’s just the latest setback for Foreman, who now faces stiff competition to keep his place in a suddenly deep defensive line rotation.
latimes.com
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It appears the Corey Foreman saga may well be over. With Lucas being put in at both OLB/Rush End and DE, it seems clear the the “pass rush” DL will be Lucas at DE and Muhammed at OLB/Rush end. My guess is the two true frosh (Shelby and Green) who have been moved to DL are also now ahead of Corey, as are the starters (most likely Sullivan, Barrs, and Alexander). Corey’s last hurrah may have been his game winning interception against UCLA. Looks like another sage may also be ending. Read that Solomon T’s six years of bad luck… Read more »
Sometimes life happens, but that doesn’t make it any less sad. Some players with potential just screw themselves up with their own stupid decisions and actions. This doesn’t sound like this was the case with Solomon T. Hopefully he took advantage of a great opportunity with a USC education.😕
It turns out with both Gentry and Lee hurt, Tackett made the correct choice in coming to SC. He will be the starter until Gentry gets well. No reason to play Gentry until he is healed. Same with Lee. I would say the ILB rotation will be Captain America and Cobb as starters and Davis as the sub. Gentry’s injury had to be far more severe than initially reported and it seems to me that he should not have played in the Cotton Bowl. He was clearly not himself. One additional point, as I reported a fake story a couple… Read more »
Very interesting to see STAN on its knees. Karma baby! You know you’re in trouble when you’re a mediocre, often bad west coast football school, and the ACC is your best alternative.
Allen did you get rejected from Stanford? Why the hate?
You are confusing disrespect with hate FF. No reason to hate at all.
While STAN was never my bag of tricks, and USC was always the school for me since a young kid, I used to respect STAN a lot more as a younger person than I do now, for many reasons.
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ok I understand—as a kid in the 50’s and 60’s I went with my family to the Stanford games against SC and UCLA—outside of Brodie it was pretty bad—never forget 72 to nothing from Red Sanders—I don’t like their politics—it started with the indian removal
The “Indians” was SUCH a great name. At least IMO. Those were the days, weren’t they?
see my reply above, Allen. I no longer have any kind of filter at my age–I just say it.
Fred–Stanford is the most overrated educational institution in CA, if not the entire West Coast. I know this from having four classmates in dental school that were ‘Furd alums telling me the same thing: The school is highly selective perhaps in choosing their freshmen students, but then there is no pressure to placed on the student body to excel for their next four years. Also, go find an article or video about how the law school staff and diversity VP’s recently treated a visiting US Appeals court judge who had the temerity to disagree in a gentle way with the… Read more »
I know Curtis is talented but I am pulling for Davis to start in place of Gentry in the opener, although they may start Gentry just to make a statement. I know if Curtis stays healthy he will be a regular starter probably before the end of the season. The game experience will do wonders for him and give him the chance to know the system.
I love seeing the consequences of arrogant hubris being applied to the NorCals. Sweet!