USC Transfer Portal Tracker: Rating the impact of the transfer departures
The NCAA transfer portal officially opened Dec. 4 (grad transfers can enter anytime), and USC has had 18 players enter the portal (19 if you count DL Jamar Sekona, who had already left the program prior to this past season).
"Everybody kind of has their own reasons for wanting to look around, and at the end of the day, you’ve got to respect it," Trojans coach Lincoln Riley said. "... We’re kind of caught in this period where transfer portal and NIL have even gone up a level in terms of kind of the craziness and the impact on it more than ever before so it’s just going to be part of it ...
"So my energy goes into the people that are here. No bad blood, no ill will to anybody that’s not, but we’re going to move on with those that are dying to be USC Trojans, because at the end of the day, that’s the only way the history here turns around. Like, that’s the only way that some of the struggles in this program over the last 15 years turn around is going to be with people that are dying to be here and are passionate about this place. Because if not, you’re going to have this kind of constant back and forth, sometimes in and sometimes not in and a lot of times, there’s where mediocrity comes from. So we’re identifying the ones that want to be here, that want to do it and the ones that don’t, we certainly wish them the best."
We'll track USC's outgoing and eventually incoming transfers here in our 2023-24 Transfer Portal Tracker, with the most recent additions first.
Just when it looked like USC's transfer portal departures may be done for now, edge rusher Romello Height popped into the portal on Friday, Jan. 19.
Height, who came to USC before the 2022 season as a transfer from Auburn, is the 18th scholarship player from USC's 2023 roster to enter the portal.
After being limited to just two games in 2022 due to a shoulder injury, Height ranked third on the Trojans with 4 sacks and 6 tackles for loss this past season.
Impact rating (1-10 scale): 4
Height is a talented player and started to emerge this season, but USC has loaded up at edge rusher through its 2024 recruiting class and with the addition of Vanderbilt transfer Nate Clifton. With Jamil Muhammad and Braylan Shelby also returning and primed for big roles in 2024, the Trojans should have plenty of options to fill the void of Height's departure.
**Update: Transferred to Utah**
Many expected Dorian Singer to step right into a WR1 role for USC and fill the void left by Jordan Addison. Instead, Singer struggled to earn consistent targets or find a steady role in the offense, finishing with just 24 catches for 289 yards and 3 touchdowns.
A season earlier at Arizona, the former preferred walk-on was one of the stars of the Pac-12, catching 66 passes for 1,105 yards and 6 touchdowns. He has elite hands and should be highly-coveted in the transfer portal after entering on Wednesday, Jan. 3, and it seems like the right move for him. Even in the bowl game last week, with USC missing four notable receivers, Singer managed only 1 catch for 13 yards while playing 23 snaps.
Impact rating (1-10 scale): 4
Singer is still a talented player and USC is still thin on receiving depth heading into 2024, but there was nothing to indicate Singer's role would have been any different moving forward as the Trojans seem confident in letting their young receivers step into bigger roles.
Andres Dewerk was part of USC's 2020 recruiting class in which the Trojans tried to restock on the offensive line with six signees. Only one still remains in the program -- three-year starter Jonah Monheim -- while the rest have all transferred out, with Dewerk hitting the portal Jan. 3.
Dewerk logged 18 offensive snaps this season and another 20 on special teams in his most extensive action over his four-year Trojans career.
Impact rating (1-10 scale): 1
Dewerk simply wasn't going to be in the Trojans' primary plans for 2024, and with a wave of high-upside freshmen coming in he would have faced a tough competition just for a second-team spot.
**Update: Transferred to Fresno State**
The latest former five-star prospect to depart USC for the transfer portal is defensive end Korey Foreman, who entered the portal on Tuesday, Dec. 19.
He finishes his USC career with 25 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks and one memorable game-sealing interception vs. UCLA in 2022.
Foreman was a five-star prospect in the in the 2021 recruiting class, ranked the No. 1 strongside defensive end and No. 4 overall national prospect.
Ultimately, he was mostly used as a situational pass rusher, playing a career-high 231 defensive snaps in 2022 but never earning a full-time or steady role. He battled persistent injury setbacks that disrupted his practice availability and opportunity to compete for more playing time. He played just 25 defensive snaps over three games this season before protecting his redshirt year. He has two years of eligibility remaining.
We went more in-depth on Foreman here.
Impact rating (1-10 scale): 2
There's still the possibility that Foreman taps into his potential and puts it all together somewhere, but it was clear it wasn't going to happen at USC at this point. We still believe he's a better player than he was able to show in his limited role with the Trojans, but he had been recruited over several times in the last couple years and wasn't going to have a major role at USC had he stayed.
**Update: Transferred to Wisconsin**
A year after being trumpeted as the future of the linebacker position at USC when he signed with the Trojans, who won a fierce recruiting battle with Ohio State and Wisconsin to land the Rivals100 prospect, Tackett Curtis is already on his way out, entering the transfer portal Monday.
Curtis played a big role in his first college season, becoming the first freshman linebacker to start at USC since Cam Smith in 2015. He started USC's first eight games, before moving into a rotation role while logging 355 defensive snaps overall. He finished with 40 tackles, 4 tackles for loss, 2 sacks and a forced fumble.
A large factor in his decision to choose the Trojans was LBs coach Brian Odom, who had recruited him since Odom was at Oklahoma with Lincoln Riley. With USC hiring a new LBs coach in Matt Entz, that could have factored into Curtis' decision.
Impact rating (1-10 scale): 9
Curtis had his ups and downs this season and looked like he may have been rushed into a starting role, eventually being moved into a smaller rotation role down the stretch of the season. But his upside is significant, and at a position with minimal depth, this is one of the tougher transfer portal losses for USC this month. Curtis should be highly-coveted by many schools.
**Update: Transferred to Alabama**
For the second day in a row, reports circulated Monday (Dec. 18) that another former five-star prospect was departing USC for the transfer portal.
Cornerback Domani Jackson emerged as a starter for the Trojans in his sophomore season, but he had his struggles along the way and lost his position coach/recruiter Donte Williams, who departed for Georgia over the weekend. Jackson posted a broken heart emoji on Instagram in reaction to Williams' departure and a couple days later he appears to be on his own way out.
We went more in-depth on Jackson's situation here.
Impact rating (1-10 scale): 7
Jackson remains a raw talent, having missed most of his senior HS season while having his first year at USC undermined by injury recovery and setbacks, but he has elite speed, good size and major upside and potential. It would have been interesting to see what a new position coach could have gotten out of Jackson. That what-if and the general lack of depth the Trojans have in the secondary makes this a significant loss for the program, but he wasn't yet a lockdown cornerback.
Update (Dec. 28) Transferred to Alabama
**Update: Transferred to Boise State**
Reports circulated Sunday, Dec. 17, that five-star freshman quarterback Malachi Nelson planned to enter the transfer portal and it became official Monday.
The freshman quarterback played only four snaps this season but that wasn't unexpected, as the plan was for him to take time recovering from surgery on his non-throwing shoulder that limited him through spring practice while learning behind star QB Caleb Williams and veteran backup Miller Moss.
We went in-depth on his departure here.
Impact rating (1-10 scale): 8
After an injury-plagued first year in the program and still needing development, Nelson was unlikely to factor into the Trojans' primary quarterback plans for 2024, which is likely why he is looking to make a move, but he nonetheless possesses excellent potential and upside and could have been part of the 2025 USC quarterback discussion. He also would have been valuable depth for 2024, which is the most immediate hit for the Trojans.
**Update: Transferred to Oklahoma**
Michael Tarquin transferred from Florida to USC last offseason and opened the year as the Trojans' starting right tackle, but he eventually lost his job late in the season in an OL shakeup that saw Jarrett Kingston move from right guard to right tackle and Mason Murphy take over at right guard. Tarquin got one final start in the finale vs. UCLA.
His PFF stats for the year were not bad, allowing 3 sacks and 14 total pressures, but those don't always tell the full story and the right side of the line was a problem for the Trojans much of the season.
Impact rating (1-10 scale): 4
Offensive line depth is hard to come by, and a team would always rather have more than less capable offensive linemen, which is what Tarquin is -- a capable rotation piece at worst and a plug-in starter if needed. But if the Trojans were committed to him as their starting right tackle for next season, he likely wouldn't be entering the transfer portal now.
**Update: Transferred to Tulane**
USC"s 10th transfer portal departure may be the most surprising yet, but then again, not really when considering how Mario Williams' role evaporated down the stretch.
The surprise factor is in how close he and Lincoln Riley have been, as Williams joined Riley at Oklahoma and followed him to USC while Riley had noted previously that Williams even babysat his kids at times.
To be fair, Riley gave Williams every chance to work through his struggle with drops, but it only got worse last season. Eventually, Williams' role diminished down the stretch this season as he played fewer than 15 snaps in four of the last five games. He had 2 or fewer catches in seven of the 12 games this season, and had zero catches vs. Cal and Oregon late in the season and just one against UCLA. Overall, he finished with a career low 29 catches for 305 yards and 2 TDs as a junior.
Presumably, Williams would have had a chance to rebuild his role next season with fellow slot weapon Tahj Washington moving on to the NFL, but instead he'll look for a new home.
Williams, a former five-star prospect, has 104 career receptions for 1,316 yards and 11 touchdowns.
Impact rating (1-10 scale): 5
While Williams deserved to be usurped by more sure-handed receivers this season, he remains a talent with his speed and yards-after-the-catch ability if he can become a more consistent catcher of the football. Also, USC is losing its top two receivers in Washington and Brenden Rice, and Michael Jackson III has also entered the portal so this is four notable losses from the receiving corps. Presumably, Riley would have preferred to keep Williams and try to get him back on track next year. That said, it's hard to imagine a Riley-led offense ever lacking for receiving options, so the Trojans will be OK.
Interior offensive lineman Andrew Milek is the eighth Trojan to hit the transfer portal since the end of the season.
Milek was one of six offensive linemen USC signed in the 2020 recruiting class and is now the fourth from that group to transfer out. While he never broke through to a starting role, Milek was one of the Trojans more highly-regarded reserves the last couple years, able to play center or guard. His time just never came. He played just 19 offensive snaps this season and 27 the year before.
Impact rating (1-10 scale): 4
While Milek never cracked the starting lineup or rotation for USC, he was consistently mentioned as one of the reserves who was in that next tier of linemen if needed. And losing any capable depth along the offensive line is unideal.
**Update: Transferred to Hawaii**
Fabian Ross committed to USC before Lincoln Riley was hired and was one of the few Class of 2022 commits to stay on board following the coaching change, due in large part to his connection with Donte Williams. Ross was also lifelong friends with high school teammate and fellow DB commit Zion Branch (and his brother Zachariah Branch), so moving on to the same college was a big deal for them.
But Ross never found a role with the Trojans, playing zero defensive snaps over two seasons. He entered the portal on Dec. 12 and will have three years of eligibility remaining.
Impact rating (1-10 scale): 0
As we always say, this is not a reflection on the player or talent level, it just seems clear that Ross wasn't in the picture for the Trojans.
**Update: Transferred to Georgia**
Wide receiver Michael Jackson III became the seventh Trojan to enter the transfer portal this offseason on Tuesday.
Jackson has always looked the part when given opportunities, but that qualifier is why he is headed to the portal. The opportunities just haven't been plentiful enough as USC has continued to bring in five-star freshmen and transfers to block Jackson's path to a bigger role.
Jackson had 17 catches each of the last two seasons and 46 for his three-year USC career, totaling 498 yards and 5 touchdowns plus 72 rushing yards.
He filled in admirably when called upon last season, catching 5 passes for 115 yards and 2 touchdowns vs. Cal, teasing what he could do if featured more. But it didn't come to pass this fall, and it's only logical he looks to play elsewhere now.
Impact rating (1-10 scale): 6
USC is losing its top two receivers in Brenden Rice and Tahj Washington, Mario Williams took a step back last year and really only Zachariah Branch looked to be truly trending upward among the other receivers on the roster. One would think there could have been an opportunity for Jackson, and that he would prove he was worth the expanded role, but he surely talked to Lincoln Riley before making this decision and he also was more than patient these last three years waiting for his time to come. He should make an impact if he lands in the right situation.
Defensive tackle De'jon Benton became the sixth Trojan to enter the transfer portal on Monday.
Benton had a career-high 5 tackles for loss this season for USC while logging 223 defensive snaps over nine games.
Overall, in 35 games over five seasons, Benton tallied 32 tackles and 6.5 TFL.
He has one year of eligibility remaining.
Impact rating (1-10 scale): 4
Benton was a useful reserve at a position where the Trojans still don't have enough depth, but he also would have been competing for his spot on the depth chart again next year as the coaches add to the defensive line through the transfer portal this offseason.
Linebacker Chris Thompson Jr. entered the transfer portal Sunday, Dec. 3, as a graduate transfer. Thompson, who was a Rivals250 prospect in the 2020 recruiting class, spent one year at Auburn before spending the last three seasons at USC.
After initially arriving as a safety, he moved to linebacker in the spring of 2022 but never found much of a role on the Trojans' defense, playing just 42 defensive snaps over the last two seasons. He was a steady contributor on special teams. He finishes his USC career with 28 tackles in 31 games (2 starts).
Impact rating (1-10 scale): 1
Even when USC's linebacker depth was tested and the unit's performance struggled, Thompson never found much opportunity with this coaching staff. He's a physical, hard-hitter who still carries intriguing potential, but it was clear it wasn't going to materialize with the Trojans.
**Update: Transferred to San Diego State**
After five years at USC, tight end Jude Wolfe will look to play his final year of eligibility (thanks to the free Covid year) elsewhere, as he announced his transfer intentions Friday, Dec. 1.
Wolfe, a four-star prospect out of local St. John Bosco HS in the 2019 recruiting class, was beset by injuries during his time with the Trojans. In 33 games, he caught 12 passes for 65 yards and 1 touchdown -- that coming on one of his two catches this season.
Impact rating (1-10 scale) -- 5
Wolfe has the size and talent to make an impact elsewhere and USC doesn't have any experienced depth at tight end besides incumbent starter Lake McRee, so this hurts from a depth standpoint. Wolfe wasn't used as a pass catcher much, but he did play 332 offensive snaps this season while fulfilling other roles of the position. Without him, USC will need Kade Eldridge, Carson Tabaracci and incoming 2024 four-star freshmen TEs Walker Lyons and Walter Matthews to emerge.
Update (Dec. 28) -- Transferred to San Diego State
**Update: Transferred to North Carolina**
Darwin Barlow, who spent three years at USC after transferring in from TCU, made the expected decision to enter the portal as a grad transfer (with one year of eligibility remaining) Thursday.
Barlow rushed for 289 yards and 2 touchdowns for USC in 2021, but his role was minimized after the coaching change as he totaled just 24 carries for 177 yards over the last two seasons. He had just 8 carries this season with 3 of those going for 12 yards or longer, including a 43-yard run and subsequent 1-yard touchdown vs. Washington.
Barlow was a four-star prospect out of Newton, Texas, in the 2019 recruiting class. He redshirted his first season at TCU while playing in three games and then led all Horned Frogs running backs in 2020 with 428 yards (5.9 yards per carry) and 4 touchdowns.
For his collegiate career, he's rushed for 993 yards and 11 touchdowns on 5.5 yards per carry, with 11 catches for 120 yards.
Impact rating (1-10 scale) -- 3
This isn't a reflection of Barlow's talent. I firmly believe he would have put up strong numbers in this USC offense if given the chance -- any chance -- and I'd confidently bet that he has a productive final season elsewhere. But it's clear the coaching staff had made its evaluation of him and if he had stayed he would have been behind young RB Quinten Joyner and whatever transfer USC brings in this offseason. So his departure was expected and doesn't change much for the Trojans.
Xamarion Gordon, a Rivals250 prospect in the 2021 recruiting class out of local Warren HS, announced his intentions to enter the transfer portal on Nov. 28.
Gordon did not play any snaps this season for the Trojans after logging 43 snaps last fall and playing a limited role on special teams in 2021. He had 10 tackles and an interception (vs. Stanford) in his Trojans career.
Gordon has two years of eligibility remaining.
Impact rating (1-10) -- 1
Gordon never established a role in three seasons with the program and that wasn't likely to change next year. That doesn't mean he's not talented, but he was buried down the depth chart here and this is a mutually-beneficial move for the player and program, which gets a scholarship spot to pursue a greater need.
**Update: Transferred to Arizona State**
Raleek Brown, who was the No. 1-ranked all-purpose back and No. 25 overall national prospect in the 2022 recruiting class out of local Mater Dei High School, had committed to Lincoln Riley initially at Oklahoma and then flipped to the Trojans soon after Riley was hired by USC.
The five-star started delivering on the immense expectations immediately last season, putting up 76 combined rushing/receiving yards and a touchdown in his collegiate debut last. Even with a high-ankle sprain limiting him for much of the season, he finished with 402 combined offensive yards and 6 touchdowns, teasing the potential of what was to come.
The diminutive Brown was moved from running back to full-time slot receiver in the spring. That ended up being a loaded position for USC with veterans Tahj Washington, Mario Williams and five-star freshman Zachariah Branch, and with coaches intimating there was a learning curve for Brown in his new position, he played just 17 snaps in the season-opener against San Jose State this year, catching 1 pass for 14 yards.
He then shut himself down to protect his redshirt and not use a year of eligibility if he wasn't going to have a major role on the offense. Brown continued practicing with the scout team throughout the season and did play in one other game -- Week 10 vs. Washington, when running back MarShawn Lloyd was a midweek scratch. Brown caught 2 short passes and rushed 3 times for 16 yards and a touchdown, but he didn't play again even though he could have played in four games and still redshirted.
Impact rating (1-10 scale) -- 9
One of our major criticisms of Lincoln Riley and the staff this season was not finding a way out of the gate to incorporate Brown's elite speed into this offense. He was part of a crowded slot receiver position, but how anxious would opposing defenses have been with both Brown and Zachariah Branch lined up in the slot on both sides of a four-wide set? He has looked impressive every time he's touched the ball and will likely put up big numbers if he lands at a program ready to maximize his abilities.