OL Tobias Raymond commits to USC after official visit

USC has its first offensive line commit of the 2023 class, as local offensive tackle Tobias Raymond announced his decision Monday night, a day after wrapping up his Trojans official visit.

Raymond, listed at 6-foot-7, 260 pounds, from Ventura High School, had visited USC back in March, but he didn't pick up his Trojans offer until last week.

To that point, Cal was looking like the favorite to land the rising prospect, who had taken an official visit to Berkeley two weekends ago.

But USC made a late charge, got Raymond back on campus and sealed the deal with a strong visit.

Raymond is the first offensive line commit for Trojans offensive coordinator/OL coach Josh Henson since he joined the program. USC needs to bring in a large O-line class in this 2023 recruiting cycle, and landing Raymond's commitment gets that process started.

Overall, Raymond is the eighth commit in this class for the Trojans and the first this month in what should be a productive June for the program, as it hosts most of its official visitors this coming weekend.

Raymond was one of four official visitors last weekend, along with four-star ILB Tackett Curtis (Many, La.), three-star TE Kade Eldridge (Bellingham, Wash.) and three-star DE Grant Buckey (Bakersfield, Calif.).

Check back for more on Raymond's commitment.

What do you see on film from Tobias Raymond?

Gorney: "He's a huge kid, that's for sure. He's a legit 6-6, 6-7, but he's really lean. I mean, he probably weighs 250, so that's going to have to be addressed over the next few years. I would not be shocked if this is a kid who comes in and redshirts to bulk up. He could probably get to 275-280, but he's never going to be this mountain of a mammoth of an offensive tackle. But really, that's not what USC needs with Lincoln Riley. He needs guys that can block, get to the second level and block. And for a guy who's pretty thin right now, he's surprisingly physical. He stays with his blocks, he puts people on the ground, so I think that's really what they're looking for in their offensive linemen. They don't need these 300-plus pounders that can't run down the field. They're going to go fast on offense and they need offensive linemen that can keep up."

How did his stock change this spring?

Gorney: "He was really just kind of an off-the-radar kid. He didn't have many offers, didn't have a lot of interest, and I think a lot of the Pac-12 schools -- and that's where his recruitment was, Arizona, Cal, Oregon State, USC came in late -- kind of came in and saw him during the spring and they were intrigued. Now, if you look back through the NFL draft you can see that a lot of the guys who have been drafted early were guys that looked like this in high school. They weren't the filled-out 300-plus pounders that that they looked like when they were in college, so I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt. I think USC saw him and got intrigued by his size and athletic ability, and he can certainly develop into an elite offensive tackle, but he's going to have to get bigger. You can't play offensive tackle, even in the Pac-12 at 250-260 pounds. So he's going to need some time to develop physically, but he certainly has the frame where he could easily put on a lot of weight."

On that note, what's a realistic timeline before he could potentially contribute on the field for USC?

Gorney: "Yeah, there are guys in this class and previous classes and I'm certain in future classes that can step in right now and play. He's not going to be one of those guys. That's certainly not a knock on his talent or his athletic ability or certainly his projection. He just needs a year or two to fill out physically, to get bigger, to have more seasoning at the position, and then from there it's all roads that are positive."