USC fills major need with Georgia DT transfer Bear Alexander
The former five-star recruit fills perhaps USC’s biggest need this summer
Adam Grosbard (OC Register) — USC filled perhaps its biggest area of need on Sunday with the addition of the top transfer available on the market.
Bear Alexander, the former five-star and top-10 national recruit, announced his transfer from Georgia to USC on Sunday afternoon. Alexander chose the Trojans over Colorado, Texas, Oregon, Miami and Penn State, but scheduled his Sunday announcement immediately following an official visit to USC.
Alexander’s arrival immediately fills a gap at the depth chart at defensive tackle for USC. The Trojans worked to overhaul their defensive line this off-season, adding Texas A&M defensive end Anthony Lucas and Arizona tackle Kyon Barrs. But after the USC spring game, it was clear that the team needed an additional big body on the interior to occupy multiple offensive linemen.
This had been a clear need since the end of head coach Lincoln Riley’s first season at USC.
Speaking the day after Georgia’s national championship win over TCU, Riley pointed at the Bulldogs’ defensive front as the model for his program to strive for.
“Do [Georgia defensive linemen] look like our guys?” Riley asked. “Not yet. You know, our guys don’t look like that. We will soon.”
Enter Alexander, the 6-foot-3, 305-pound tackle who recorded two sacks and 13 quarterback hurries as a true freshman at Georgia.
And like Lucas before him, Alexander comes to USC as a true sophomore, with three years of eligibility remaining, making up for the lack of freshman defensive linemen on last year’s USC roster.
After an 11-3 season in his first year, Riley is building a transfer class that could rank No. 1 nationally once again. The Trojans have landed 12 transfers this offseason and have upgraded their defense by adding Alexander, Lucas (Texas A&M), Jack Sullivan (Purdue) and Kyon Barrs (Arizona) on the defensive line, as well as linebackers Mason Cobb (Oklahoma State) and Jamil Muhammad (Georgia State), and cornerback Christian Roland-Wallace (Arizona)
TrojanDailyBlog members — We always encourage you to add information, insight, divergent opinions, or new topics to the TDBwhich don’t necessarily pertain to any particular moderator post or member comment.
SUBSCRIBE HERE TO RECEIVE NOTICE OF NEW COMMENTS OR REPLIES.
Former Wyoming OL Emmanuel Pregnon (6-6, 318) is transferring to USC The Athletic — Emmanuel Pregnon, a chemical engineering major at WYO who announced his intention to transfer to USC earlier today, was the second-best player in the Portal as of Wednesday, per The Athletic’s rankings, behind only TCU WR Jordan Hudson, who is ranked No. 1. Pregnon moved into the starting lineup at right guard for the Cowboys as a redshirt soph in 2022 and put together a strong season, grading out as the No. 3 guard in the Mountain West according to PFF and earning Freshman All-America recognition. Pregnon can play three more seasons… Read more »
21. L.A. CHARGERS: Jordan Addison, wide receiver, USC
The East Coast kid strayed from his comfort zone in 2022, transferring to USC after winning the Biletnikoff Award (best receiver in college football) at PITT in 2021, catching 100 balls. Then, with a ton of attention on him at USC, he caught 59 balls in a totally different offense. Mentally and physically tough, and versatile; played 60 percent in the slot and the rest outside in three college seasons.
Caleb Williams Compared with Patrick Mahomes NFL QB Coach on Caleb Williams per The Athletic — “He is really good. His arm is special. His play extension is special. His throw selection is special. He takes care of the ball well. The throws he makes … it’s not just the off-platform throws, it’s a lot of creating lanes for himself to throw. He’s the closest I’ve seen to (Patrick) Mahomes. He’s like a refined Mahomes. It’s hard to compare anybody to Mahomes, but he really does play like him. I don’t think his arm is quite like that, but it’s… Read more »
Isn’t the Oregon State AD one of the power guys in PAC-12 (much to SC’s chagrin and annoyance). I thought I had read that somewhere in the past. Anyway, I saw over on espn.com that he was released a couple of days ago from the hospital after a “medical event.” Sounds like the stress of a future Pac-12 w/o the Trojans and bruins and no TV contract must be getting to the “left-behinds.” Get well soon!
Where the Pac-10/12 will land nobody knows, but it doesn’t look good, that’s for sure.
I don’t see the addition of SMU and SDS helping the conference one iota. With USC and UCLA gone, the skeleton left behind looks shaky, to say the least.
Sadly (for them) Oregon and UDUB are no different than SDSU and SMU. What conference other than the PAC do they increase the pot? BIG and SEC they would dilute the pot.
Allen, I think the addition of SDSU and SMU hurt. I doubt they increase the size of the pot; rather they most likely dilute the payout and increase travel expense by adding a team in DFW. If it made economic sense, my guess is it would have already happened. Having really bad management in both the professional staff AND the academic leadership may well have destroyed this conference. The only remaining teams with any value are UW and OR, and where do they go? Streaming and ESPN After Dark?
I think ORE can recruit TEXAS as well as it needs to without SMU, which may be in Dallas, but brings along an extremely low rent, weak rep that only dilutes instead of adds IMO.
The Pac-12 is so desperate, I think they’d be better to just sit tight if they can get everyone to stick around and sign a Grant of Rights lock-in pledge.
Allen, that is the strategy I have heard put out for public consumption. But, how does it benefit OR or UW to lock into a streaming service long term? I doubt it benefits Utah or CO much either. My guess is the PAC might simply take ESPN and the PAC network and then try to sell some good match ups as one offs. Not much of an option, but UW and OR need to win big and see if they can generate interest. I think the PAC stays together until OR and UW can exit to the B1G or ACC.
Do you want ORE and UW to be able to get into the B1G? I’d rather see them stuck with the Pac-10 and watch how they do as leaders of a minimized conference, playing small ball out west. If they do manage to crawl their way into the B1G, they should get a meaningfully less favorable deal than the L.A. schools, who initiated the opportunity in the first place. Probably a worthless pipedream of mine. If ORE and UW never actually lock-in, then the shaky Pac-10 is effectively over, always susceptible to plunder, and ORE/UW will simply have to go… Read more »
Packers get:
Pick No. 13, a 2023 2nd-rd pick (No. 42), a 6th-rd pick (No. 207), a conditional 2024 2nd-rd pick that becomes a 1st if Rodgers plays 65 percent of the plays.
Allen, Wasn’t Lucas a 5 star also? LR’s talent upgrade has been simply spectacular. I doubt many of the Cat’s recruits will see the field this year. Assuming we get two more OL transfers, then I doubt that many of his OL recruits (by far his best area of recruiting) will see the field either. LR said when he arrived that he had to replace 35 roster spots. I have not kept count, but we must be getting close.
I’m curious why the prep star system is still used so prominently when evaluating Portal transfers. I guess prep star assignments never go away. Just ask Korey Foreman.
Have you noticed on On3 they also have a college rating. It obviously comes from the team the player is leaving so is usually lower than the high school ratings. Not every school takes the time to give a player a rating though.
I noticed CU and UCLA have a bunch of 3 stars coming in while SC has mostly 4 star guys. Rumor is CU looks undersized. Buffs may be fast but not too physical. A superficial glance, SC has better quality, CU and UCLA have more quantity.
Will Deon do for CU this year what LR did for SC last year? Doubt it. 8 guys from Jackson State aren’t going to cut it in Power 5. But they sure are fired up in Boulder.
CU is probably a stop off for him. He could have pretty good career as a college football HC or big time coordinator/recruiter. Just needs a school that can help him get talent.
“Do our guys look like that? Not yet but they will soon.” Riley’s replacing our Chihuahuas with Rottweilers. That Cat ain’t never gonna come back. (Although sometimes chihuahuas will take your ankles out.)
Not to throw a fly into the Trojan ointment, but my heavily UGA-crazy dental assistant has said that Alexander has a rep as a trouble-maker. It could be sour grapes on her part, but just throwing it out there. Hopefully Riley is on top of this. Sometimes a kid just needs a change of venue to grow up….🤔
Gee, I sure wish USC would recruit choir boys instead. 😂
LR has gone on and on publicly about how he is looking for the right culture fits at USC and is literally willing to turn away players who aren’t right for his vision for USC’s football culture.
Now, we discover LR’s bringing in program-crippling troublemakers per your favorite dental asst.
Thankfully, my dentist is an SC grad who is a huge fan. We used to have some great conversations about the imploding downfall of The Cat!
Riley’s plan is working perfectly. Portal the first two years to bring in top players from across the country, winning games and all the while putting the name USC on the national map again. This years’ portal haul should get enough attention to attract top rated HS recruits in December and beyond. Its a beautiful thing.
USC (24-14-1) takes the weekend series 2-1 at Dedeaux from UCLA today with a 6-5 victory.
The Trojans have not appeared in the College World Series since 2001, despite being one of the most historically successful college baseball programs of all time.
If you look at it, except for Bullock and Gentry, all the starters from last season are either gone (Tuli,Blackmon, Fig, and Pili) or will be 2nd team. What a change over.
Lincoln Riley Is a Recruit Magnet ESPN/ABC.com — USC coach Lincoln Riley and defensive coordinator Alex Grinch were after Bear Alexander as soon as they could be within the rules of the transfer portal, and it didn’t take long for the versatile defensive lineman to land on his next destination. “I mean, it’s Lincoln Riley,” Alexander told ESPN. “Just watching their production from last year, they lost two games, barely lost to UTAH…if Caleb (Williams) wasn’t hurt, they would have definitely been in that. It’s Lincoln Riley and I’m excited to go play for that guy.” Alexander was the No.… Read more »
This could be a traditional USC defensive unit if the chemistry comes together. We have the big bodies, the finesse, and the speed to make a quality defense. We may even have enough depth to last the season.
Steve, I am with you. The key to the D is quality depth. This O scores so quickly that your D is really a starting 22 as you must rotate players. Last year we lacked both talent and depth on the DL, particularly at NT. We are now two deep at NT with the best talent in years. This was without doubt the weakest position on the team last year. I think the Bear is the most important addition since Caleb. I think he is that important. The first team front seven is the most talented at SC in years.… Read more »
So the Defensive front 7 looks vastly improved with the new additions. Is it Pac12 champions quality? Is it Playoffs quality? Is it National Champions quality? A source I read says Bear Alexander would not be a starter at Georgia. Georgia currently has a Senior and RS Senior as 1 and 2 at nose tackle. Is SC conference champions quality, yes. Playoff quality, probably yes. National Champions quality, not yet.
Former Wyoming OL Emmanuel Pregnon (6-6, 318) is transferring to USC The Athletic — Emmanuel Pregnon, a chemical engineering major at WYO who announced his intention to transfer to USC earlier today, was the second-best player in the Portal as of Wednesday, per The Athletic’s rankings, behind only TCU WR Jordan Hudson, who is ranked No. 1. Pregnon moved into the starting lineup at right guard for the Cowboys as a redshirt soph in 2022 and put together a strong season, grading out as the No. 3 guard in the Mountain West according to PFF and earning Freshman All-America recognition. Pregnon can play three more seasons… Read more »
LR didn’t waste time getting a replacement for Ethan White. Pregnon signed today. LR is the portal king, now getting the exact guys he wants.
Peter King Mocks Jordan Addison to the Chargers
21. L.A. CHARGERS: Jordan Addison, wide receiver, USC
The East Coast kid strayed from his comfort zone in 2022, transferring to USC after winning the Biletnikoff Award (best receiver in college football) at PITT in 2021, catching 100 balls. Then, with a ton of attention on him at USC, he caught 59 balls in a totally different offense. Mentally and physically tough, and versatile; played 60 percent in the slot and the rest outside in three college seasons.
profootballtalk.com
They don’t waste any time in Green Bay
Just paint it black!
Caleb Williams Compared with Patrick Mahomes NFL QB Coach on Caleb Williams per The Athletic — “He is really good. His arm is special. His play extension is special. His throw selection is special. He takes care of the ball well. The throws he makes … it’s not just the off-platform throws, it’s a lot of creating lanes for himself to throw. He’s the closest I’ve seen to (Patrick) Mahomes. He’s like a refined Mahomes. It’s hard to compare anybody to Mahomes, but he really does play like him. I don’t think his arm is quite like that, but it’s… Read more »
Isn’t the Oregon State AD one of the power guys in PAC-12 (much to SC’s chagrin and annoyance). I thought I had read that somewhere in the past. Anyway, I saw over on espn.com that he was released a couple of days ago from the hospital after a “medical event.” Sounds like the stress of a future Pac-12 w/o the Trojans and bruins and no TV contract must be getting to the “left-behinds.” Get well soon!
Where the Pac-10/12 will land nobody knows, but it doesn’t look good, that’s for sure.
I don’t see the addition of SMU and SDS helping the conference one iota. With USC and UCLA gone, the skeleton left behind looks shaky, to say the least.
When Oregon & UDUB leave you will be looking at a merge into Mountain West.
Probably a good idea, especially when strength in numbers becomes your hole card.
Sadly (for them) Oregon and UDUB are no different than SDSU and SMU. What conference other than the PAC do they increase the pot? BIG and SEC they would dilute the pot.
Allen, I think the addition of SDSU and SMU hurt. I doubt they increase the size of the pot; rather they most likely dilute the payout and increase travel expense by adding a team in DFW. If it made economic sense, my guess is it would have already happened. Having really bad management in both the professional staff AND the academic leadership may well have destroyed this conference. The only remaining teams with any value are UW and OR, and where do they go? Streaming and ESPN After Dark?
Oregon still recruits Texas pretty good. Adding SMU would help that.
I think ORE can recruit TEXAS as well as it needs to without SMU, which may be in Dallas, but brings along an extremely low rent, weak rep that only dilutes instead of adds IMO.
The Pac-12 is so desperate, I think they’d be better to just sit tight if they can get everyone to stick around and sign a Grant of Rights lock-in pledge.
Allen, that is the strategy I have heard put out for public consumption. But, how does it benefit OR or UW to lock into a streaming service long term? I doubt it benefits Utah or CO much either. My guess is the PAC might simply take ESPN and the PAC network and then try to sell some good match ups as one offs. Not much of an option, but UW and OR need to win big and see if they can generate interest. I think the PAC stays together until OR and UW can exit to the B1G or ACC.
Do you want ORE and UW to be able to get into the B1G? I’d rather see them stuck with the Pac-10 and watch how they do as leaders of a minimized conference, playing small ball out west. If they do manage to crawl their way into the B1G, they should get a meaningfully less favorable deal than the L.A. schools, who initiated the opportunity in the first place. Probably a worthless pipedream of mine. If ORE and UW never actually lock-in, then the shaky Pac-10 is effectively over, always susceptible to plunder, and ORE/UW will simply have to go… Read more »
USC makes the difference. Nobody would notice if the bruins stayed or not.
Report (finally): Aaron Rodgers, 2 Draft Picks Traded to Jets; Packers Get No. 13 Pick
Adam Schefter — Trade compensation, per sources:
Jets get:
Aaron Rodgers, pick No. 15, a 2023 5th-rd pick (No. 170).
Packers get:
Pick No. 13, a 2023 2nd-rd pick (No. 42), a 6th-rd pick (No. 207), a conditional 2024 2nd-rd pick that becomes a 1st if Rodgers plays 65 percent of the plays.
He might be the most talented thrower of all time but he’s 39 and a total head case. No thanks.
Berzerkley Education will make you a head case….
USC’s 2023 roster features 10 Rivals five-stars:
DT Bear Alexander, QBs Caleb Williams/Malachi Nelson, DE Korey Foreman, WRs Zachariah Branch/Mario Williams, CB Domani Jackson, RB MarShawn Lloyd, APB Raleek Brown, and TE Duce Robinson.
Allen, Wasn’t Lucas a 5 star also? LR’s talent upgrade has been simply spectacular. I doubt many of the Cat’s recruits will see the field this year. Assuming we get two more OL transfers, then I doubt that many of his OL recruits (by far his best area of recruiting) will see the field either. LR said when he arrived that he had to replace 35 roster spots. I have not kept count, but we must be getting close.
Lucas was only a 4-star per Rivals.
I’m curious why the prep star system is still used so prominently when evaluating Portal transfers. I guess prep star assignments never go away. Just ask Korey Foreman.
Have you noticed on On3 they also have a college rating. It obviously comes from the team the player is leaving so is usually lower than the high school ratings. Not every school takes the time to give a player a rating though.
USC moves to No. 3 in 2023 On3 transfer portal rankings
2023 CFB Team Transfer Portal Rankings
1.CU
2.UCLA
3.USC
4.ARK
5.WIS
6.AUB
7.OLE MISS
8.LSU
9.ASU
10.LOUIS
11.MICH
12.MIA
13.UW
14.MARYD
15.TCU
16.UK
17.FSU
18.IU
19.TENN
20.ORE
21.OU
22.UNC
23.VT
24.PSU
25.MINN
on3.com
I noticed CU and UCLA have a bunch of 3 stars coming in while SC has mostly 4 star guys. Rumor is CU looks undersized. Buffs may be fast but not too physical. A superficial glance, SC has better quality, CU and UCLA have more quantity.
Will Deon do for CU this year what LR did for SC last year? Doubt it. 8 guys from Jackson State aren’t going to cut it in Power 5. But they sure are fired up in Boulder.
Primetime’s decision to suddenly end up at CU still blows my mind.
I’ve never quite seen a shot in the arm like that before — when the team involved was routinely pitiful for such an incredibly long time.
But I think the Buffs are still gonna get pounded this year. Primetime needs a little time.
CU is probably a stop off for him. He could have pretty good career as a college football HC or big time coordinator/recruiter. Just needs a school that can help him get talent.
Talk about a talent overhaul.
23 more players have left CU since April 15, including 12 since the spring game.
“Do our guys look like that? Not yet but they will soon.” Riley’s replacing our Chihuahuas with Rottweilers. That Cat ain’t never gonna come back. (Although sometimes chihuahuas will take your ankles out.)
Your comment reminded me of a Chihuahua very dear to my heart.
I owned one myself named Jack and he passed away a few years ago. These pet deaths are brutal!
But my little deer head Chihuahua was a cute little ankle biter, don’t you agree?
Little Jack. RIP
My wife and I have put down 3 and have a 4th (you can see on my profile). When she goes I don’t know if I can do it again. They just take your heart!
Not to throw a fly into the Trojan ointment, but my heavily UGA-crazy dental assistant has said that Alexander has a rep as a trouble-maker. It could be sour grapes on her part, but just throwing it out there. Hopefully Riley is on top of this. Sometimes a kid just needs a change of venue to grow up….🤔
Gee, I sure wish USC would recruit choir boys instead. 😂
LR has gone on and on publicly about how he is looking for the right culture fits at USC and is literally willing to turn away players who aren’t right for his vision for USC’s football culture.
Now, we discover LR’s bringing in program-crippling troublemakers per your favorite dental asst.
Thankfully, my dentist is an SC grad who is a huge fan. We used to have some great conversations about the imploding downfall of The Cat!
All the “great” dentists are from SC….😎
True. The USC Dental School has an unparalleled space in the upper realm of advanced dental education. 😎
you betcha!
Riley’s plan is working perfectly. Portal the first two years to bring in top players from across the country, winning games and all the while putting the name USC on the national map again. This years’ portal haul should get enough attention to attract top rated HS recruits in December and beyond. Its a beautiful thing.
USC (24-14-1) takes the weekend series 2-1 at Dedeaux from UCLA today with a 6-5 victory.
The Trojans have not appeared in the College World Series since 2001, despite being one of the most historically successful college baseball programs of all time.
Does SC have a chance to make the NCAA’s in baseball?
Steve, I’m with you, especially depth.
we have guys that played tons of snaps last year who will be 3rd on the depth chart. Here’s my best guess at it.
NT- Bear, Kyon, Stanley T, sekona, Pepe, Mobley, Laffitte
DL- Sullivan, Benton, Taleni, Barquet, Thomkins, Hughes
DE- Lucas, Solo, Byrd, Korey, Greene
im certain 2 will transfer out, and confident the freshman (Laffitte, Hughes) will jump others.
guys who were 1 last year will be 2nd or 3rd on depth chart.
huge difference in every way.
I am wondering if Grinch will stay with a 3 man DL or go to four DL going into the B1G
If you look at it, except for Bullock and Gentry, all the starters from last season are either gone (Tuli,Blackmon, Fig, and Pili) or will be 2nd team. What a change over.
Lincoln Riley Is a Recruit Magnet ESPN/ABC.com — USC coach Lincoln Riley and defensive coordinator Alex Grinch were after Bear Alexander as soon as they could be within the rules of the transfer portal, and it didn’t take long for the versatile defensive lineman to land on his next destination. “I mean, it’s Lincoln Riley,” Alexander told ESPN. “Just watching their production from last year, they lost two games, barely lost to UTAH…if Caleb (Williams) wasn’t hurt, they would have definitely been in that. It’s Lincoln Riley and I’m excited to go play for that guy.” Alexander was the No.… Read more »
This could be a traditional USC defensive unit if the chemistry comes together. We have the big bodies, the finesse, and the speed to make a quality defense. We may even have enough depth to last the season.
Steve, I am with you. The key to the D is quality depth. This O scores so quickly that your D is really a starting 22 as you must rotate players. Last year we lacked both talent and depth on the DL, particularly at NT. We are now two deep at NT with the best talent in years. This was without doubt the weakest position on the team last year. I think the Bear is the most important addition since Caleb. I think he is that important. The first team front seven is the most talented at SC in years.… Read more »
So the Defensive front 7 looks vastly improved with the new additions. Is it Pac12 champions quality? Is it Playoffs quality? Is it National Champions quality? A source I read says Bear Alexander would not be a starter at Georgia. Georgia currently has a Senior and RS Senior as 1 and 2 at nose tackle. Is SC conference champions quality, yes. Playoff quality, probably yes. National Champions quality, not yet.