Maliki Crawford injury update: Lincoln Riley shares USC cornerback hit with season-ending diagnosis

Lincoln Riley revealed on Friday that USC cornerback Maliki Crawford has suffered an injury that will end his upcoming season before it ever begins.

Riley shared that news on Crawford in a media availability on the field Friday afternoon. He said he was the only major injury, which happened earlier this week, through this point of fall camp for the Trojans with them already looking to now get him ready for the season after this one.

“You know, the only major injury is Maliki Crawford had a season-ending injury a couple of days ago and got that fixed,” Riley said. “Obviously hate that for him but we’ll get him rehabbed, fixed up, and get him back, obviously, next season. We’ve been pretty fortunate other than Maliki’s injury.”

Crawford is in his second year with the program after enrolling in the spring following his early graduation from Pacifica. This comes after he redshirted last season after seeing no action in Los Angeles.

Crawford was a four-star prospect and the No. 303 overall recruit in the 2023 cycle. That’s according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He also rated as the No. 33 CB and the No. 23 player out of California.

Besides Crawford, Riley addressed a few more statuses of offensive linemen Amos Talalele and Elijah Paige, and defensive end Braylan Shelby.

“Elijah is fine. He’ll be fine, practiced the whole day. Just got a lot of work today,” said Riley. “Braylan, Amos – all good. Nothing long-term. Just out for the day.”

That continues a trend, beyond Crawford unfortunately, of good health so far during practice for the Trojans. No other player has picked up anything significant or what they normally wouldn’t after a return to the gridiron in camp.

“We’ve been so far, so good. Pretty lucky,” said Riley. “Everybody else? Normal bumps and bruises in camp but we’ve been pretty fortunate other than Maliki’s injury.”

Riley reveals right guard is a major position battle for USC

Lincoln Riley already sees a major battle playing out for the starting right guard spot in fall camp with it seeming to be wide open.

Speaking with reporters after a recent practice, Riley shared that four players are currently getting looks at the spot with Alani Noa, Micah Banuelos, Gino Quinones, and Amos Talalele. All four have shown the Trojans head coach something good so far.

“That’s one of the biggest position battles right now – no question. I mean, we’re trying to look at a lot of guys. We’re going to look at Amos, we’re going to look Alani, and we’re going to look at Gino there. Micah Banuelos is really starting to make a move right now,” Riley said.

For all four of the linemen competing to potentially start at guard, Riley is really trying to keep an eye on the whole picture and see which of them have risen to the level of play necessary.

“To get it up to the level of a starter is the big challenge right now,” Riley said.