Lincoln Riley addresses fitting Jordan Addison into the offense, role

USC Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley brought arguably the most potent combination of transfer players in America to Southern California: quarterback Caleb Williams and wide receiver Jordan Addison. While Williams naturally followed Riley to Pasadena from Oklahoma, Addison — the reigning Biletnikoff award winner, given to the top receiver in college football — was arguably the splashier add as the Trojans lured him away from reigning ACC champions Pittsburgh.

Now that the Trojans have hit fall camp, Riley is starting to get a clearer picture of how, exactly, Addison will fit into the offense. No matter what, though, Addison’s versatility and team-first nature have put him in high esteem with Riley. One way or another, they’re going to center Addison in their passing attack.

“I think your best players, you’re always going to tailor it to those guys and try to do thing to fit them,” Riley said. “So, yeah, there’s no question that he absolutely impacts how we’ll play offense. There’s absolutely zero doubt about that. He’s doing very well, I’d say we’re still learning him. We’ve still only had, today was 10, so we’ve only had 10 practices with him. So we’re still figuring out him, his intricacies and how he fits. But he’s a very consistent worker and certainly is a playmaker. There’s been a lot of newcomers. Several offensively. It’ll make you really think about all the possibilities. It’s exciting because there are some guys who are pretty dynamic.”

Riley was asked if Addison will feature mostly from the slot, or if he’ll be moving all around the formation, playing inside and out. Riley was a bit coy in his response, but it seems that Addison will be on deck to do whatever it the Trojans need out of him.

“We’ll see,” Riley said. “We’ve always had the ability to get our best guys run out. So I’m sure we’ll move him around a bit. The good thing for him, even though he hasn’t been in our offense, he’s played a lot of ball. He’s smart. He picks it up very quickly, he’s a football guy. So, when we do need to move him around a little bit, it’ll be no problem.”

And unlike Williams and fellow Sooner transfer Mario Williams, who were recruited by one Lincoln Riley and played for him at Oklahoma, Addison has only been in the system for a few weeks. The adjustment is still taking place, but apparently going quite smoothly in part because Addison has made it so.

“He loves to play, loves to study. Just kind of a gym rat-ish type mentality,” Riley said. “And the other thing I’d say, that I’ve seen, is just the unselfishness. Other guys have made plays and he’s just as excited — probably actually one of those guys who is more excited than even when he makes a play. So, I’d just say his overall attitude and approach to football. And then specifically being a member of this football team, he’s been very mature and very impressive.”