WR Kyle Ford's return to USC for his final season just makes mutual sense
USC needed to add a wide receiver to a unit deep on talent but thin on overall numbers, and for a while now it has seemed the answer to that need was an obvious one.
Kyle Ford entered the transfer portal back on March 15, following one season at UCLA after spending his first four years with the Trojans -- including a career-best 2022 season in which he caught 20 passes for 365 yards and 2 touchdowns.
He knows Lincoln Riley's offense, he knows many of the players on this roster (including quarterback Miller Moss), and he had been spotted at recent USC football practice in addition to the Trojans' spring game Saturday.
It only made sense for Ford to now find his way back to USC, and he made it official Tuesday.
It was understandable why Ford transferred out following the 2022 season.
After enduring a string of injury setbacks -- including two torn ACLs since his senior year of high school at Orange Lutheran -- the former top-100 prospect had shown the upside he still possessed while rising to the occasion when injuries struck USC's WR corps during Riley's first season here. The big 6-foot-5 wideout delivered 6 catches for 114 yards and a touchdown in a win over Arizona that fall, 3 receptions for 73 yards against Colorado and 3 for 73 and a score against UCLA, all within a four-game span. He averaged a robust 18.3 yards per reception for the season.
He had made the most of his opportunities, but they were still limited within a Trojans program set to be loaded again at WR in 2023. UCLA had more pressing needs at the position, and while Ford had grown up a Trojans fan and expressed how much the rivalry had meant to him for many years, it seemed to be a sensible career move nonetheless.
Except, the Bruins and their rotating QB situation ended up not offering Ford much more of a role than he had left behind. He caught just 22 passes for 236 yards and 1 TD in 12 games for the crosstown rivals.
And so now he's back where he started, providing a valuable veteran presence for a USC receiver unit that is set to rely heavily on sophomores Zachariah Branch, Duce Robinson, Makai Lemon and Ja'Kobi Lane, with redshirt junior Kyron Hudson, veteran transfer pickup Jaden Richardson and true freshman Xavier Jordan rounding out the group.
Ford has more receptions and yards in a USC uniform than anyone in that group.
What role awaits him is yet to be seen. The Trojans rightfully appear committed to their sophomore foursome, which includes three top-100 prospects and another who probably should have been in Lane.
Either way, it was doubtful with that bevy of young talent in place that USC would have found a better WR transfer pickup at this time than Ford, who has proven he can deliver when called upon. And after finding the grass wasn't greener across town and perhaps not wanting to risk not finding the right fit elsewhere for his final season, Ford gets to return to a program and fan base that knows and appreciates him.
This one just made sense all around.