Time and again the last few months, USC coach Lincoln Riley has touted the Trojans' improvements in the defensive front seven, both in terms of talent and depth.
And they got even stronger Sunday.
Georgia defensive tackle transfer Bear Alexander, a former five-star top-10 national prospect from the 2022 recruiting class, announced his decision to join USC after visiting with the Trojans this weekend.
The announcement came on the "Footballville" Instagram feed.
Alexander was one of the most coveted recruits in the country coming out of IMG Academy in Florida (via Texas), and immediately became one of the most high-profile transfer portal targets after announcing his intentions last week to leave the Bulldogs after one season.
Alexander, listed at 6-foot-3, 305 pounds, played 171 defensive snaps for the national champs, per PFF, totaling 5 tackles and 2 sacks -- including a sack in the national title game.
He tweeted that he was ultimately choosing between USC, Colorado, Texas, Oregon, Miami and Penn State, but the Trojans were viewed as a strong favorite from the moment he entered the portal.
Alexander posted photos and videos throughout his USC visit, showing that the staff put on quite a presentation for him to lock in that decision.
So what does his addition mean for that ever improving and deepening front seven?
The interior of the defensive line was clearly the area still needing the most help, so this couldn't be a more impactful pickup.
With Alexander and Arizona transfer Kyon Barrs, a veteran Pac-12 starter who went through spring practice with USC, the Trojans now have a formidable pair of defensive tackles to build around, with returning starting nose tackle Stanley Ta'ufo'ou still in the mix as well, versatile options like Purdue transfer Jack Sullivan, De'jon Benton and Tyrone Taleni able to mix and match at different spots and redshirt freshman Devan Thompkins drawing praise for his development at the 3-technique spot.
On the outside, USC has a lot of mostly untapped potential at the defensive end/rush end spots. Sullivan is an exception as he had 7 tackles for loss with 5.5 sacks for Purdue last season, but Texas A&M transfer Anthony Lucas (a top-60 national prospect from that 2022 recruiting class) was one of the stars of spring, Georgia State transfer Jamil Muhammad is a raw talent the coaches feel could emerge as a key contributor off the edge, true freshman Sam Greene turned heads in the spring as well while looking like an immediate impact rotation piece, Korey Foreman (the former five-star from the 2021 class) and Romello Height enter pivotal seasons with plenty of untapped potential, Solomon Tuliaupupu is a sixth-year grinder who has overcome immense injury setbacks to emerge as a key rotation cog at either DE or RUSH, Taleni is back after totaling 5 sacks a season ago, Solomon Byrd (who started strong last season and totaled 4 sacks) will be an option after missing the spring with injury, and top-65 national prospect Braylan Shelby arrives as a freshman this summer to work into the mix at that RUSH spot.
The most likely starting group would seem to be Barrs and Alexander on the inside, Sullivan at DE and Lucas at RUSH, but no unit rotates more than the defensive line so that full depth of talent will be utilized with competition at those spots perhaps the most intriguing storyline for fall camp.
Considering Barrs, Alexander, Sullivan, Lucas, Muhammad, Greene and Shelby are all new this year (with three more freshmen still to arrive this summer in defensive tackles Elijah Hughes and Deijon Laffitte and RUSH end DJ Peevy), it has indeed been quite a remarkable makeover.
And that's not even getting to the linebackers and the additions of Oklahoma State transfer Mason Cobb and standout top-100 freshman Tackett Curtis.
"I mean, the difference in the front seven is noticeable," Riley said after the spring game last week. "I think we all knew like deep down that we had some holes there last year. I mean, it is what it is. You knew that even when we're winning games and playing well defensively, you know at some point this has got to be addressed. It was going to be a focal point no matter if we won five games last year or we won 11 or we won 15 games last year. It was going to happen. So I'm excited about what that looks like."
Surely even more excited as of Sunday with yet another five-star talent joining that cast.
