NFL draft day is coming up and Trojan football is back on display

In the NFL, the letters “U”, “S” and “C” often imply one thing: greatness.

With fourteen alumni in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the Trojans have produced more Hall of Famers than any other school in the country. So for USC football, tomorrow’s NFL Draft is a big deal.

With that, who from this past Trojans team is up for grabs in this year’s draft?

The biggest star out of USC in the 2023 draft class is most definitely the former Fred Biletnikoff Award winner and All-American wide receiver Jordan Addison.

Recently, USC has been successful in producing consistent NFL receiver talent, boasting alumni like JuJu Smith-Schuster, Michael Pittman, Amon-Ra St. Brown and Drake London.

With this recent success, many students are excited to see what these Trojans can do in the NFL.

“I am excited to see where Addison will land,” freshman economics major Christopher Higgins said. “I have seen a lot of fluidity in wide receiver rankings this year, so his range of picks is wide, and he could end up on a contender with a great quarterback. That would be fun.”

Sophomore business major Brandon McGowan believes Addison will be set up best to showcase his skills in the NFL.

“I would say Jordan Addison is on the best path right now,” McGowan said. “I think in the pre-season he’s going to get a lot of reps, and he’ll have a lot of chances to prove himself.”

Also on the board are defensive tackle Tuli Tuipulotu and guard Andrew Vorhees, both 2022 All-Americans. Tuipulotu was arguably the brightest spot from an otherwise underwhelming defense. Though he is going into the draft with relatively mild expectations, he could be taken as early as the second round.

Sophomore biomedical engineering student Michael Lee believes Tuipulotu is an underrated prospect entering the draft.

“I would say people don’t give Tuli Tuipulotu a lot of credit,” Lee said. “I think his upside is very significant based on the fact that he was USC’s best defensive lineman and led the nation in sacks.”

Vorhees, on the other hand, has not been nearly as lucky.

At the NFL Draft Combine in March, Vorhees fell victim to a torn ACL, which has seemingly plummeted his draft stock. Before the injury at the combine, Vorhees seemed destined to be a day-two pick but with this setback, he will most likely be scooped up in the late rounds.

Travis Dye, the Trojan’s number-one running back in the 2022 season also had his draft stock affected by his late-season ACL injury.

Even though the Trojans boast a relatively strong talent pool in this year’s draft, the most talked about Trojan from this year involves someone who is not even draft-eligible yet.

The 2022 All-American, Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year and Heisman Trophy winner, quarterback Caleb Williams, has been a major topic of discussion surrounding the draft. It is extremely likely that next season will be Williams’ final season with USC, as he will be eligible to declare for the 2024 NFL Draft.

Caleb Williams’ takeover of USC Football is nothing new to the student body. They expect this kind of hype.

“I think it will be a huge conversation, especially with a lot of the recent pickups we’ve gotten. I mean, got the number one tight end in the country, a few great o-linemen and obviously our defense too,” freshman economics major Andrew Maxwell said. “I think all those factors could really impact his [draft] stock. And honestly, I see it only going up from here.”

Sophomore Brandon McGowan believes Williams would easily be the first pick in this year’s draft, but is also excited he will be returning for another season.

“I’m really excited that USC has him for another year,” McGowan said. “Honestly, I wish we had him for another two seasons, so he could be here through my senior year.”