Tim Drevno on USC's most underrated freshman OL and his scouting strategy

USC offensive line coach Tim Drevno has had one of the most important tasks over these last two recruiting cycles, with the future of the Trojans' line riding on the prospects he and the staff evaluated, identified and ultimately signed in volume.

The Trojans signed six offensive linemen in the 2020 class that arrives this summer, and so far the program has three OL commits in this ongoing 2021 cycle.

"You feel pressure. Your name's on that room -- you want to do good and you want to do the university right, all the fans, all the alumni and the great players who played in the program," Drevno said. "I take great pride in the work of trying to evaluate a guy, watching three or four game tapes on him, doing a write-up on him. ... Making sure when you're looking at the tape you're looking at a good opponent -- maybe you're looking for him to go against a guy from Centennial Corona, a great player. Those are the things we look for.

"We just took six in this last signing class, and that's a tough thing to do. In this next one, we'll see how many. Coach has been very good to us about giving us enough offensive linemen. I think he understands that championships are won up front -- offensive, defensive line."

While joining the Trojan Talk podcast, Drevno went in depth on how he scouts offensive line prospects, how he developed the confidence to trust his eye when his evaluation on a recruit exceeds the recruiting rankings and which of USC's incoming freshmen offensive linemen he feels is the most underrated.

RELATED: Full podcast with USC OL coach Tim Drevno | Drevno discusses his plans, outlook for the 2020 Trojans offensive line

"It's countless times of watching tape, evaluating guys, never ever pass on an email that's sent to you that maybe might be a guy -- there's some guys out there who could be great walk-ons and could earn a scholarship. So I think turning over every stone to make sure you're doing a great job and you're not missing anybody," Drevno said. "And not worrying about the stars -- not worrying about them. People get caught up in stars all the time. ...

"The neat thing about it is I've been in pro football, you see guys, a practice guy that we took was Kenny Wiggins [with the] San Francisco 49ers, came out of Fresno State. And gosh darn, I think I saw him a year ago at a wedding, I think it was his eighth year going into pro football or seventh. He was just a free agent guy that we took and developed him. I think on that offensive line you've got to develop guys. You want the athleticism, but the guy might not be able to play with strength right away, but you're counting on your strength coach to do that. And it's a formed habit playing the offensive line. It's great technique you have to do, and there's some things we can teach. If the kid's got some clay, we can mold it."