Where USC Stands with Nation’s No. 1 Ranked RB after Official Visit
Five-Star RB Taylor Tatum from Longview (TX) hit the road last fall and one of his stops was in Los Angeles. He took his first unofficial visit to USC in early November.
Tatum, On3’s No. 1 running back in the country in the 2024 recruiting cycle, attended the USC vs Cal game at the Coliseum. He arrived early enough to get in a photo shoot.
Although Tatum’s largely been recruited by and visited regional schools, he boasts an extremely impressive national offer sheet. USC, Oregon, Alabama, Ohio State, Michigan, Georgia, Texas A&M, Tennessee, Texas, Tennessee, Michigan St., TCU, Auburn, Oklahoma, Stanford, Ole Miss, Penn State, Notre Dame and many more have offered the talented All-American.
But Tatum’s likely nearing the end of his recruitment and had several official visits set for June. He was at USC last weekend (6/2), he’ll be at Oklahoma next weekend (6/16) and his final scheduled visit is Michigan on June 24.
Despite no commitment date set, Tatum said a decision could come soon after his remaining June official visits. But he added this, “A commitment here and a commitment there, and I could bump my commitment date up.”
We often talk about the post official visit buzz kids have and show they’ll feel a week later after it wears off. That buzz wearing off will likely be as insignificant with Tatum as it was with Dakoda Fields who committed on Monday morning at 9am PT. Tatum’s visit last weekend was his third, which means he paid for his first two visits. He spent nine hours at USC on his last unofficial visit….after he attended the April 15 Spring Game.
Impact of USC official visit
“I think the visit had a huge impact,” said Tatum. “I’d been to USC a few times, but this was an opportunity to send more quality time with Coach (Kiel) McDonald and Coach (Lincoln) Riley. That was the biggest difference from my other two visits.
“Plus I got to go through the process of seeing all USC has to offer, more into the schooling. What also really helped was the players being around. Everyone had a player who was from their hometown or state…and my guys were Tahj Washington and Darwin Barlow. Tahj is from right around the corner in Marshall (TX). Being able to ask how adjusting from Texas to L.A. was for them helped out a lot.”
“USC already had a pretty good case for itself, but this visit bumped it up a little more. Coach Riley’s offense is damn near perfect for me”
RB Taylor Tatum
Los Angeles lifestyle
“In L.A. you obviously have distractions, you have the the city life, but I feel asking the guys from Texas about their experience helped me a lot,” Tatum said. “During the season it’s nothing but ball, so you don’t have much time to go out and party and get distracted.
“When you’re at USC, during the football season it’s ball and that’s why they won so much. They use L.A. to their advantage at USC.
Lincoln Riley
One of my great friends covering Oklahoma always talked about the impact Lincoln Riley had on recruiting guys he personally got heavily involved with. Like the guys he personally felt were the highest priority. Riley recruits all of the top targets and is significantly involved, but there are always a few who are must-gets in his mind. Guys he feels strongly are perfect fits in his offense. We believe Tatum is one of those guys.
There’s no doubt that Riley’s offense is a huge draw for Tatum. He described Riley’s offense as the “Perfect Offense” for his game. But there’s more about Riley that’s a huge draw for Tatum, Riley the person.
“You have coaches you want to play hard for and win games for, but at the same time have deep talks about your girlfriend, school and other stuff,” Tatum said.
Strong case for the Trojans
“I think there are a lot of reasons on the football side to choose USC for,” said Tatum. “Coach Riley’s offense is damn near perfect for me. Especially a running back like me that can line up in the slot, run routes, come across in sweep motions, I can block, run in between the tackles and get tough yards. I think that him showing me his offense from OU to here, I feel I fit his main scheme.”
First in wins, will it be Tatum or Nate Palmer?
One of the must-ask questions for me yesterday was whether Tatum had a talk with Kiel McDonald about the 2024 running backs class. We’ve been talking about McDonald’s plan t sign two prep running backs thus cycle. Some USC fans have wondered if the Trojans could take three, but Tatum said he’s been told USC will take two.
“We talked abut how he’s going to take two running backs and he already has one,” Tatum said. “He knows I’m a guy who wants to take a few OVs (official visits) and how busy I am. I asked him to give me some time to get these OVs out of the way.
I’m not asking for too much, I just want to make the right decision. I think Coach McDonald understood that and his chances are good.”
Taylor Tatum
Plan for Tatum
Obviously not every running back offers a program the same qualities. Tatum’s impressive versatility somewhat sets him apart from most, and Riley’s plans for him are intriguing.
“Their plan is to use me in ways they can’t use every running back,” said Tatum. “I’d still be getting my carries in the backfield, but I’d do more stuff like Raleek (Brown) did last year. Line up in the slot, go in motion, run screens and routes out of the backfield. But then still get carries out of the backfield.”
NFL Running backs come and go more frequently than any other position. That’s just the nature of playing a role where you’re essentially involved in a car crash 20 times per game. Through all that turnover, one RB has remained dominant, Christian McCaffrey.
In 11 games with San Francisco, McCaffrey posted 746 yards and six scores on the ground while adding 52 receptions, 464 yards, and four touchdowns via the air. Lincoln Riley andKiel McDonald see a similar role for Tatum.
“Coach Riley kind of emphasizes that coming to USC will prepare you for the NFL,” Tatum said. “The playbook, the schemes and NFL coaches come to Coach Riley to talk about plays. So, there’s a lot of those connections with him. And his pro-style system is exciting.”
Lincoln Riley the OC
It’s no secret many of the top offensive prospects are impressed with Riley’s offensive prowess. Tatum is among the impressed after three visits.
“See his offense work in person and seeing all the different stuff he does with everyone, is impressive,” Tatum said. “Also the behind the scenes stuff and learning about his thought process. How him moving certain players around will cause the defenses to react a certain way. We got into that while we were put there, too. So getting a chance to be kind of inside his head was cool.”
Kiel McDonald’s Impact
“The film speaks for itself with what Coach McDonald has done,” Tatum said. “What did at Utah, what he did with Travis (Dye) and what he’s doing right now. And not just with highly-ranked athletes. At Utah he didn’t have a bunch of four and five star guys. He did it with a lot of three-stars who are playing in the NFL right now. His track record is really cool.”
Texas RB Pipeline Continues?
In April 4-Star McKinney (TX) RB Bryan Jackson committed to USC. So, landing two lone-star backs could be a reality again in 2024.
In December USC signed Texas running backs Quinten Joyner and A’Marion Peterson. A few years back the Trojans signed Ronald Jones and Aca’Cedric Ware. Could it be Jackson and Tatum in 2024? Time will tell, but there a chance for sure.
“Coach McDonald preaches to me that he doesn’t care how long you’ve been at a school,” Tatum said. “He’ll teach you the playbook and the rest is on you to earn your spot. He made it clear at the Spring Game that Quinten has been getting a lot of reps and looks explosive. Just seeing that made it clear I can earn a spot no matter how long I’ve been there.
“I also love that his plan isn’t to always line me up the backfield. I’m not really worried about depth though.”
Baseball
One of the topics that hasn’t been talked about often, is the impact playing baseball will have on Tatum’s schools choice. He’s actually not considering several prominent programs, because of the lack of baseball development and success. Tatum spent some time with USC baseball coach Andy Stankiewicz and Duce Robinson while in L.A. last weekend.
“There are a few schools you’d usually see in the mix for the No. 1 ranked running back in the nation,” said Tatum. “So, I think baseball will play a big part. It’s been something in my life since I was four years old and I except highly at baseball. It’s just a love for the game and it’s major part of my recruitment.”
Recruiting Prediction Machine (RPM)
The 5-foot-10.5, 200-pound back holds 36 total offers. According to the On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine, USC has a huge 76.9% to 4.6% lead for his commitment over Oklahoma. Michigan, and Baylor are trailing.
We submitted a USC prediction this morning.
On3 NIL Valuation
He currently has an On3 NIL Valuation of $155K. The On3 NIL Valuation is the industry’s leading index that sets high school and college athletes’ projected annual value (PAV). The NIL valuation does not act as a tracker of the value of NIL deals an athlete has completed to date. It rather signifies an athlete’s value at a certain moment in time.
2022 Season Highlights
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