USC Recruiting: Movement outside the On300 rankings
On3 released its final rankings for the 2024 recruiting class on Monday afternoon. The On300 saw significant changes with several USC signees moving up and down.
The final rankings also featured updates to recruits outside of the On300. And one USC signee made the jump from outside the On300 to within the elite designation— Clarkston (Mich.) linebacker Desman Stephens.
On the defensive side of the ball he turned in an extremely impressive senior season. He finished with 88 total tackles, nine tackles for loss, six pass deflections and three interceptions. He also had one fumble forced and recovery.
“Fast forward to his senior season and you see some more positional versatility with him,” On3 said of his senior film. “He’s still making plays off the edge and as a free blitzer, but they are also allowing him to line up as a true middle backer and as a deep. Doing this allowed us to see how he triggers to ball carriers from more of a true inside backer role as well as his ability to cover and function in space. We think Stephens has proven he has the size, athletic ability and positional traits in order to become a factor in the run AND pass game from an inside backer position at the next level.”
Movement outside the On300
There were nine signees who started the day outside the On300 rankings, and remained there. But there was not a single player in the class who did not see movement of some kind in their positional ranking.
Here is a breakdown of the final rankings for the remaining USC signees, all positional rankings.
Huntington Beach (Calif.) offensive tackle Justin Tauanuu saw a rise of 3 spots from No. 63 to No. 60. Palo Alto (Cal.) Archbishop Riordan offensive tackle Kalolo Ta’aga saw a nice rise of 26 spots from No. 69 to No. 43 at the position. Arlington (Tex.) Martin offensive lineman Makai Saina also saw a rise of 11 spots from No. 38 IOL to No. 27. Savannah (Ga.) Jenkins EDGE Lorenzo Cowan saw a rise at the EDGE position of seven spots from No. 57 to No. 50. The biggest rise of the signees out the On300 was Los Alamitos (Cal.) cornerback Isaiah Rubin, who went from the No. 163 CB to No. 88.
In terms of dropping spots, Clearwater (Fla.) safety Jarvis Boatwright Jr. went from the No. 77 safety to No. 80. McKinney (Tex.) running back Bryan Jackson dropped one spot at running back from No. 49 to No. 50. Englewood (CO) Cherry Creek offensive lineman Hayden Treter went from No. 109 IOL to No. 115. Humble (Tex.) Atascocita cornerback Braylon Conley dropped slightly from the No. 86 safety to No. 90.
USC has 20 signees this cycle and entered the day ranked No. 18 in the On3 Industry Team Recruiting Rankings.
