USC Trojans Impressing During Summer Conditioning Sessions
Fall camp for the Trojans starts at the end of the month, but USC players have been hard at work with summer conditioning on the practice field and in the weight room. USC Assistant Director of Football Sports Performance Caesar Martinez has provided a few glimpses at the work being done.
One of the first clips from last week featured wide receivers Mario Williams and Zachariah Branch in a competitive tag game that required quick acceleration and change of direction.
Williams and Branch should be two receivers to watch this season as USC could roll out a dominant rotation of slot receivers. Williams missed two full games last season. But he still finished the year with 40 receptions for 631 yards and five touchdowns. Branch is arguably the nation’s top true freshman skill player heading into 2023. He is expected to make a significant impact.
Martinez also offered a montage look at true freshman rush end Braylan Shelby, running back MarShawn Lloyd and defensive lineman Jack Sullivan.
All three are new to the USC roster this season. Lloyd and Sullivan came to USC from South Carolina and Purdue, respectively. And both participated in spring ball with the Trojans.
Like Branch, Shelby is another true freshman to keep an eye on this fall. He finished as one of the big late risers in the 2023 recruiting class and possesses the frame of a future NFL edge defender. If he’s physically ready to see the field this fall, he’ll have a good shot to do so.
Big Men Pushing Big Weight
Martinez showcased a couple more offseason additions in offensive lineman Jarrett Kingston and defensive lineman Kyon Barrs. Both are Pac-12 transfers (Kingston from Washington State, Barrs from Arizona). And both could spend the entire season right around the football making big plays for USC.
Kingston took over the starting right guard spot during the spring. It will be interesting to see if he stays there this fall with the addition of Emmanuel Pregnon, who played right guard for Wyoming last season. Kingston started four games at left guard in 2020 and 12 games in 2021 before moving out to left tackle. At whatever position he lands, Kingston is a guaranteed starter and a significant piece of the offense.
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Barrs is one of the key defensive additions for the Trojans. He’ll likely be asked to start at nose tackle and anchor that defensive front. Upper body strength apparently isn’t much of a question for him. Barrs posted video of him benching 29 reps of 225 pounds. Teammate Solomon Byrd followed on by asking if Barrs made sure to tell everyone that lift came at the end of his workout.
At the 2023 NFL Combine, 29 reps would have tied for the 11th-most among all players. It would have tied for the sixth most among defensive prospects.
Speedy Trojans in Summer Conditioning
A photo from Bennie Wylie’s Instagram account also made its way to Twitter in recent days. In it, the maximum velocity of 12 USC players are shown. USC coaches have talked about getting players faster and stronger since they arrived on campus. The Trojans listed here are moving.
The top number shown belonged to cornerback Domani Jackson, at 23.5 MPH. The rest listed in descending order:
Brenden Rice: 22.6
Zachariah Branch: 22.4
Raleek Brown: 22.1
Romello Height: 21.9
Prophet Brown: 21.9
Xamarion Gordon: 21.7
Christian Roland-Wallace: 21.5
Mario Williams: 21.5
Makai Lemon: 21.3
Calen Bullock: 21.3
Christian Pierce: 21.0
