Korey Foreman Showing Improved Consistency This Spring

Any thoughts of Korey Foreman making a five-star impact in a three-year USC career after arriving as the nation’s No. 1 overall prospect in the 2021 recruiting class are gone. The 6-foot-4, 235-pound defender recorded 24 tackles and 4.5 sacks in 23 games as a freshman and sophomore.

Comparatively, last year’s No. 1 overall prospect, defensive tackle Walter Nolen, finished his true freshman season with 29 tackles, one sack, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.

But USC coaches aren’t ready to throw the towel in on Foreman. A position adjustment and extended time on the field seem to have him poised to make an impact in 2023. Six practices into spring ball, head coach Lincoln Riley sees a new player in the talented Foreman.

One of the notable changes with the spring depth chart was Foreman moving from rush end to defensive end. Riley said that puts him in a different position room as he moves from Roy Manning to defensive line coach Shaun Nua.

Foreman did make one of the plays of the season as a rush end last year, dropping into coverage and intercepting UCLA’s Dorian Thompson-Robinson to seal a win for the Trojans. But Riley said those impact plays were too inconsistent. Media asks Riley about Foreman fairly consistently. That’s the scrutiny that comes with being the nation’s top-ranked prospect. Riley said last fall that when Foreman is on the field consistently — and not off it due to various injuries — the consistency in his play follows.

“He’s been able to stay on the field,” Riley said of Foreman this spring. “He’s been able to stay in workouts. He hasn’t had a lot of times where he’s in and out of stuff. So what happens is you’re starting to see him stack good days on top of each other.”

Riley said the improvements and consistency both the coaching staff and Foreman have been hoping for have been more evident this spring.

“He has improved and is such a better player right now than he was 12 months ago,” Riley said. “It’s not even close. It is not even close and the kid is really working hard. He’s really taking some steps.”

USC’s Need on the Defensive Line

USC has a huge need for playmakers up front in 2023. Last season, Tuli Tuipulotu was the one consistent producer as he led the team by a wide margin with 13.5 sacks. And his 22 tackles for loss were nearly as many as the next three Trojans combined.

Not only is Tuipulotu off to the NFL, USC lost Nick Figueroa and his 5.5 sacks to graduation as well. That number was good for No. 2 on the team.

Getting some production from Foreman would be huge for USC this fall. The past two years have shown that it’s better to wait and see before proclaiming Foreman a major contributor. But the buzz from Riley at this point seems more promising than it did when he first took over the Trojans.

“Excited about his progress, really,” Riley said. “As excited as I’ve been in all the time that we’ve been with Korey.”

Now, Foreman needs to continue showing that consistency Riley mentioned. There are nine spring ball practices remaining, including the spring game. There’s a long summer period and then what will be an intense fall camp.

“He closes spring strong, stays healthy, stays on the field, keeps getting reps, has a great summer,” Riley said. “He ought to be primed to be a disruptive player for us this fall. No question about it.”