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For all the attention rightfully paid to plug-and-play additions from the transfer portal or which incoming freshmen might make an early impact, more important than anything is how USC is developing its existing talent.

Coach Lincoln Riley made clear over the last year that he wants to build his program through development, minimizing the need to spend big bucks in the transfer portal each offseason.

Here's what he said about that last February in explaining his priorities in rebuilding the Trojans' defensive staff.

"The development side for us was huge because I think we're at a little bit of a point in the program where we're starting to, I think, not get away but probably evolve a little bit away from the transfer portal and starting to get more into really building through high school recruiting," Riley said. "But the only way that model works is you go get the best developers of talent and you give the best high school players a reason for why they would want to sign with USC and not just sign here, not just come here initially but hopefully for a large majority of those guys stay here throughout their careers and get on that climb. ...

"In the long run we want developers and we want the majority of our players that start their career and end their career in this football program."

With that said, today we spotlight the five second-year Trojans we think have the chance to make the biggest leap in terms of on-field production in 2025 ...

The top of this list is obvious.

USC lost two starting linebackers and brought in no transfers at the position. That could still change during the post-spring portal window (and probably needs to for the sake of depth if nothing else), but at present it seems highly probable that redshirt senior Eric Gentry and sophomore Desman Stephens are the starting linebackers for the Trojans.

Stephens was high on our potential true freshman breakout list last year after Riley touted him on signing day as the most underrated recruit in the Trojans' 2024 class, and sure enough Stephens would log 105 defensive snaps () and more than 100 additional reps on special teams.

He had 13 tackles, a tackle for loss, an interception and a forced fumble.

He has the size at 6-foot-3, 233 pounds and moves swiftly and fluidly at that stature, suggesting the potential that he'll be an asset in both the run game and in coverage over the middle as needed -- which is a combination the Trojans simply haven't had much of in years.

There's no other returning experience at linebacker, so there should be no obstacle in Stephens' path to a starting job. Even if USC does add a veteran LB transfer after the spring, this defense functioned with three linebackers often early last season, which allowed defensive coordinator D'Anton Lynn to deploy Gentry and his unique, long 6-foot-6 frame in a variety of ways.

It will also be interesting to see what impact new linebackers coach Rob Ryan, the longtime NFL defensive coordinator, has on Stephens' development leading up to the fall.

Put it all together and he's an easy topper to this list.

That said, sophomore defensive end Kameryn Fountain's upside takes a backseat to no one, so we had to have him share the No. 1 slot here.

Starting Week 9 against Rutgers, Fountain played at least 30 defensive snaps in each of the final six games as a true freshman.

He had two especially notable performances over that stretch, racking up 6 pressures (including a sack) vs. Rutgers and 5 pressures vs. UCLA. He also had a sack vs. Notre Dame. He finished with 19 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss (see below vs. Utah State) and those 2 sacks overall.