Lincoln Riley updates Domani Jackson's progress since returning from injury

Domani Jackson was a big piece of USC’s recruiting class this cycle, but suffered a knee injury at the beginning of his senior season. Through training camp, Trojans coach Lincoln Riley sounds happy with where the former five-star recruit is at with his recovery.

Jackson was a Five Star Plus+ cornerback recruit from the class of 2022 and the No. 6 prospect in the country, according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. Despite the injury, he’s doing well through training camp, and Riley said he thinks Jackson has a high ceiling.

“He’s done a good job,” Riley said. “He has. It’s good to have him, obviously, back healthy. Disappointed he wasn’t able to do a lot this spring but he had a really good summer. Got his body in shape. You really see some flashes. You see some of the physical traits that he has, the speed.

“He’s also very, very strong for a player at his position at his age. I think each day, there’s more and more plays where he’s able to turn it loose and use those physical abilities. Each day, he’s thinking less, understanding it more. He’s been a good competitor. He certainly has a bright future.”

Lincoln Riley discusses cornerback depth at USC

Riley also dove into USC’s depth at cornerback, including Colorado transfer Mekhi Blackmon — the No. 31-ranked player to hit the transfer portal, according to the 2021 On3 Transfer Portal Rankings. Ceyair Wright is another player who could make an impact and Josh Jackson could, as well, once he returns from an injury.

“We’re a lot deeper there than we were in the spring,” Riley said. “It’s a good battle. I think we have a number of guys there that are going to play meaningful snaps for us. I would say [Mekhi] Blackmon has certainly continued to impress. He’s had a really strong start to camp. Domani, like I said, is doing a really nice job. Ceyair Wright, I’ve been really impressed with Ceyair. We’re going to get Josh [Jackson] back off of his injury and have him full go.

“It’s a good group. They battle. I think we’ve got several deep there that can play. Jacobe Covington, certainly another one I need to mention that’s had a good start to camp and you can see getting better and more comfortable by the day. Our numbers have been good, our depth’s been good, the competitive depth’s been good. I think we’ll have a number of contributors here when we look at this point in December, January and say a lot of those guys helped this team.”