{"id":5649,"date":"2023-05-21T15:36:48","date_gmt":"2023-05-21T20:36:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/?p=5649"},"modified":"2023-05-21T15:36:48","modified_gmt":"2023-05-21T20:36:48","slug":"on3-roundtable-evaluating-how-much-better-usc-defense-will-be-in-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/on3-roundtable-evaluating-how-much-better-usc-defense-will-be-in-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"On3 Roundtable: Evaluating how much better USC defense will be in 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lincoln Riley has always struggled to figure out the defensive side of the. ball. Whether it was Oklahoma<\/a><\/strong> or his first season in Los Angeles at USC<\/a><\/strong>, the defense has prevented his teams from ever seriously competing for a national championship. He will be hoping things are different in 2023, especially after hitting the NCAA transfer portal<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

WeAreSC<\/a><\/strong>\u2018s Scott Schrader<\/a><\/strong> joined the On3 Roundtable<\/em><\/strong><\/a> to discuss how much better the Trojans\u2019 defense can be. He believes the front seven is significantly improved, especially the defensive line. Some SEC and former five-star status was added his offseason before Riley went back to the Sooner State to grab a linebacker.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe front seven was the glaring weakness last season,\u201d Schrader said. \u201cThey\u2019ve upgraded significantly there. Anthony Lucas<\/a><\/strong>, Bear Alexander<\/a><\/strong>, Jack Sullivan<\/a><\/strong> from Purdue<\/a><\/strong>. Kyon Barrs<\/a><\/strong> from Arizona<\/a><\/strong>. You\u2019ve also added Sam Green<\/a><\/strong> who came in and had an excellent spring. He\u2019s expected to be a factor this year as well. <\/p>\n

\n<\/a><\/span>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cThen the linebacker position was upgraded significantly with Mason Cobb<\/a><\/strong> from Oklahoma State<\/a><\/strong> Jamil Muhammad<\/a><\/strong> is a part of that group now. Then, you have Tackett Curtis<\/a><\/strong> who came in and he\u2019s expected to make a significant contribution as a freshman this year.\u201d<\/p>\n

If there was a positive for USC\u2019s defense last year, it was their production from the secondary. Even so, defensive coordinator Alex Grinch<\/a><\/strong> still had some work to do, needing to further his player\u2019s development. Getting another year in the system, Schrader thinks the secondary will take another step forward too.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think some of those upgrades along with the defensive backs that have developed and gotten another year in the system,\u201d Schrader began. \u201cLike, Ceyair Wright<\/a><\/strong> had a really, really strong spring. There were some guys whose cover skills were maybe lacking from a developmental standpoint. Whether it was physically or technically and I think that has been straightened out.\u201d<\/p>\n

USC wound up leading the Pac-12 in interceptions, consistently gaining possessions for their high-level offense. Still, the front seven was not good enough to keep up on a weekly basis. Opposing offensive lines were able to have their way.<\/p>\n

The difference this year could be a significant one. Schrader tends to imagine if USC had the 2023 roster last season, they would have made an appearance in the College Football Playoff.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf they had the personnel they had right now defensively last year, they probably would have been in the playoffs,\u201d Schrader said.<\/p>\n

The post On3 Roundtable: Evaluating how much better USC defense will be in 2023<\/a> appeared first on On3<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lincoln Riley has always struggled to figure out the defensive side of the. ball. Whether…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5649","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5649","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5649"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5649\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5649"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5649"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5649"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}