One by one, USC's draft-eligible underclassmen have settled on their decisions and the news is mostly good for the Trojans.
A day after left tackle Austin Jackson announced he was declaring for the NFL draft -- a significant loss but an expected one for USC -- wide receiver Tyler Vaughns and defensive tackle Jay Tufele announced Thursday on Twitter that they will both return.
Vaughns, who caught 74 passes for 912 yards and 6 touchdowns this season, will be a redshirt senior next fall, while Tufele, who was a first-team All-Pac 12 selection with 6.5 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks, will be a redshirt junior.
The only other draft-eligible underclassmen who might have pondered leaving were defensive tackle Marlon Tuipulotu -- but USC 2020 signee Tuli Tuipulotu told TrojanSports.com that his older brother is staying put -- and left guard Alijah Vera-Tucker.
That means the Trojans will bring back all but two starters on defense -- middle linebacker John Houston and defensive end Christian Rector -- and likely all but three starters on offense, with Jackson, senior right tackle Drew Richmond and senior wide receiver Michael Pittman moving on.
Despite losing Pittman, the Trojans' leading receiver and one of three finalists for the prestigious Biletnikoff Award, USC will again be very deep at the position.
Vaughns has 189 career receptions for 2,395 yards and 17 touchdowns. He ranks ninth all-time in USC history for receptions and is within range of the program's all-time leader Robert Woods (252). Vaughns ranks 13th in receiving yards in program history and tied for 12th in touchdown receptions and will climb both those lists as well if he remains healthy in 2020. (Marqise Lee is the all-time leader in receiving yards at 3,655, and Dwayne Jarrett holds the mark with 41 receiving TDs).
Vaughns will be joined by rising junior Amon-Ra St. Brown (77 catches for 1,042 yards and 6 TDs in 2019) and rising sophomore Drake London (39-567-5), while redshirt freshmen Bru McCoy and Kyle Ford will look to make a delayed impact after arriving as headliners of the 2019 signing class and speedy 2020 4-star WR Gary Bryant Jr. enters the mix as an early enrollee as well.
Tufele, meanwhile, was rock up the middle for the USC defense with his impact going well beyond the stats in terms of the amount of plays he disrupted. He should see his draft stock continue to grow with another productive season in 2020.
Tufele and the elder Tuipulotu formed a stifling interior on the defensive line and were arguably the strength of the defense, as teams learned quickly they'd have more success attacking the edges than trying to run up the middle.
