What We Learned About the USC Offensive Line This Spring
USC spring ball is finished and the Trojan coaches are now out on the road recruiting during the evaluation period. But we’re looking back at what we learned about the various position groups. There are some obvious takeaways and a couple of unexpected developments. And as always now in the transfer portal era, these are some “at this time” thoughts that could change based on other additions to the roster this offseason. We’re on to the USC offensive line.
Previous Position Groups
USC Offensive Line
Depth Chart
LT
LG
C
RG
Jarrett Kingston
Cooper Lovelace
Andres Dewerk
RT
What We Learned About the Starters
The new guys didn’t exactly line up where we expected to see them. But certainly as expected, they landed in the starting lineup and didn’t move.
Michael Tarquin started and stuck at left tackle. Jarrett Kingston spent the majority of his time at right guard. That’s a pretty big change from their previous stops. Tarquin was mostly a right tackle at Florida. Kingston spent his entire final season at Washington State at left tackle.
It’s likely that Tarquin is a step up from Bobby Haskins, who took the most left tackle snaps last year after coming over from Virginia. But it remains to be seen if he can perform as one of the best in the conference.
Kingston might not play left guard as a one-for-one replacement for Andrew Vorhees. But he might just take over that role as the strongest lineman on the roster and the savvy veteran who can be counted on most.
There was no surprise that Justin Dedich took over at center. That was baked into his plan to return and he’ll play as one of the best in the conference (and maybe the nation) this season. There’s also no surprise that Jonah Monheim was a spring standout. The slight surprise was that he stayed out at right tackle after so much talk last season from both him and position coach Josh Henson and Monheim’s best position moving forward was likely inside. But it’s tough to be upset that one of last year’s highest-rated tackles is back there again. Quarterback Caleb Williams certainly seemed pleased with that development.
And while it wasn’t necessarily a lesson learned during spring ball, we still know that Gino Quinones is a viable starter at left guard.
What we really learned up front is that the versatility among the starters is phenomenal and could be one of the biggest keys to the season. Expecting a starting five to play every meaningful snap of the season just isn’t realistic. We saw last season how important that versatility was as Haskins, Vorhees, Dedich and Brett Neilon all missed various amounts of time. But all five of those spring starters seemingly wouldn’t miss a beat in moving to a second position if necessary this year.
What We Learned About Offensive Line Depth
The depth took a major hit when it was announced that former Florida lineman Ethan White would no longer be joining the Trojans. So all Lincoln Riley did was go back into the portal and get one of the top offensive linemen available in former Wyoming guard Emmanuel Pregnon.
The talented lineman played right guard all last season for the Cowboys, so it’ll be interesting to see how things shake out when he arrives. Regardless, the depth at the interior spots looks very solid with Kingston, Pregnon, Quinones and Andrew Milek.
The Trojans also look like they have a couple of strong backup tackles. Mason Murphy got some valuable experience last season at both right and left tackle. But Elijah Paige might have been the story of spring when it comes to adding depth to the line. The true freshman looks physically ready to go right now. It’s obviously not in anybody’s best interest to play Paige in front of Williams this season. But he’s already proven himself deserving of some backup snaps if USC can get a few games in hand.
Walk-on center Killian O’Connor might not be the next guy up if something were to happen to Dedich. Milek, Monheim and Cooper Lovelace are all backup options at center.
Even after losing Courtland Ford to the transfer portal and not bringing in White, the USC offensive line depth looks like it has seven or eight real contributors this season. And that’s even before adding Pregnon.
That takes a lot of the pressure off needing to add another body in the portal. And also means the four talented incoming freshmen won’t be rushed into duty. It’ll be interesting to see where the newcomers land and maybe even how quickly Micah Banuelos can potentially push for second-team reps at center.
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