Receiver ‘Chef Tahj’ Washington epitomized USC’s rebuild
As a horde of seniors skipped the Holiday Bowl to preserve draft stock, Washington’s status was never in doubt, and he capped a sizzling senior season in reaching 1,000 yards
Luca Evans (OC Register) — LOS ANGELES — Receiver. Number 16. Good little football player.
In November, the Southern California News Group spoke with an NFL scout on condition of anonymity for a story evaluating quarterback Caleb Williams’ draft stock. In a final question, pivoting away from the Williams-centric questions that have so overshadowed USC’s 2023 season, the scout was asked if there were any potential mid-to-late-round draft picks he saw on USC’s roster after their 48-20 loss to Notre Dame in mid-October.
Senior wide receiver Tahj Washington was the first, and instant, mention.
“Smart, tough, instinctive, athletic, great hands,” the scout said. “Really like the way he played the game.”
“I don’t even know his name, but.”
Sounded about right, then. Outside of a passion for cooking and a golden streak in his hair he recently shaved away, Washington has drawn little attention to himself for three years at USC. He is polite but soft-spoken, a Texas twang masked within short sentences. His perspective is often deceptively simple, built from years of maturation through seeing just about all there is to see in collegiate football, summated by his simple explanation for declaring for the draft last week: “I’ve been in college five years, bro. It’s about that time.”
And yet, in this rebuild under Coach Lincoln Riley that culminated in a purge-the-demons Holiday Bowl victory over Louisville on Wednesday night, no Trojan has been more vital. No Trojan has been more central to the heart of the program, the culture that has been spoken of but never consistently materialized, until a group of second-stringers and veterans that truly wanted to be there came into Petco Park and knocked off 15th-ranked Louisville, 42-28.
And Washington was right in the middle of it, playing in one final game that held little stakes on paper, trotting out there even as a host of other key Trojans – including Williams – sat to preserve draft stock. And he balled out for one final night, a safety net on Miller Moss’ first two touchdowns of the night, eclipsing 1,000 receiving yards on the year with a 29-yard end-zone grab in the second quarter as he danced in ecstasy.
“He could have had a great case for not playing this game,” Riley said postgame. “But anybody that knows Tahj knew there was a zero percent chance that he was going to sit out this game, and that’s why he’s going to be a great pro.”
He had come from Memphis with minor character questions, but he stuck out a rough 2021 season at USC in which he nabbed just one touchdown. He took a backseat to Jordan Addison at times in 2022 but established himself as unshakeable in USC’s receiver room. And even with a horde of young skill talent and veterans vying for snaps, even as the flashier Brenden Rice stole some eyes, Washington stepped fully into an unquestioned role as USC’s top target in 2023 in a year that should earn him some buzz in the first few rounds of the draft.
