Commitment Analysis: What USC is getting in 4-star TE commit Keyan Burnett

Let's start with tight ends coach Seth Doege, who scores a major recruiting win in his first two months as TEs coach. He was promoted this offseason from an offensive analyst role to replace John David Baker, who left for Ole Miss. Doege was already making an impact in recruiting for USC, as he was key in the Trojans landing 4-star QB Jaxson Dart and high-upside 3-star WR Joseph Manjack last cycle, but this is a big start for him in his new position.

Especially considering the tight end picture overall. The Trojans had three TE targets standing out on their board this cycle -- Burnett was one, Donovan Green (Dickinson, Texas) was another and committed to Texas A&M in January, and Oscar Delp (Cumming, Ga.) was the other and will be hard to pry out of the Southeast, especially if the recruiting dead period is extended again, preventing official visits.

If USC hadn't landed Burnett out of its own backyard, it likely would have had to redirect its TE focus to at least have some backup plans had things not panned out with Delp, who is one of the most coveted prospects in the country right now.

So any way you look at it, getting Burnett's commitment is a big win for the Trojans.

As for that tight end depth chart, USC has another year of veterans Erik Krommenhoek and Josh Falo -- Krommenhoek filling the more traditional old-school TE role and handling more blocking responsibilities -- along with third-year TEs Jude Wolfe and Ethan Rae (who has yet to play for USC due to injuries) and the incoming freshmen Trigg and McRee.

Again, ideally, the Trojans would like to merge the roles presently played by London and Krommenhoek and find an athletic pass-catching TE to work the seams who can also perform as a blocker. But it's still possible those roles remain separate, and Wolfe (6-foot-5, 250 pounds) is closer to that traditional TE frame and was largely used as a blocker and red zone target at St. John Bosco HS, so he would be the logical successor to the Krommenhoek role.

However it shakes out, USC has added a ton of talent to that TE group over this last year.

Overall, Burnett is USC's sixth 2022 commitment, joining 5-star CB Domani Jackson (Mater Dei HS), 4-star QB Devin Brown (Queen Creek, Ariz.), 4-star CB Fabian Ross (Las Vegas, Nev.), 3-star OL Dylan Lopez (IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., via Rancho Verde HS) and 3-star LB Ty Kana (Katy, Texas).