After visiting USC June 17th, Washington born four star offensive lineman Micah Banuelos commits to the Trojans for their 2023 class.
BREAKING: Burien (Wash.) Kennedy Catholic four-star OL Micah Banuelos has just announced his commitment to USC and he breaks down with @247Sports why he picked the Trojans https://t.co/AZDmyqhRjr pic.twitter.com/zSAUoTtHNF
— Brandon Huffman (@BrandonHuffman) July 25, 2022
What it Means for USC
Another indication of what new head coach Lincoln Riley views as the weakness of the offense. USC always has a good one, but it’s been in spite of the bad offensive line play. Riley’s offense doesn’t work without an, at least average, offensive line.
He wants to run the ball and create play action opportunities for his quarterbacks. It resulted in two heisman winners and three starting NFL QBs, I think Riley knows how to make things easier for his QB, resulting in an easier time to win.
Now USC has had a couple first round linemen picked recently. In Austin Jackson at 18 in the 2020 NFL draft and Alijah Vera-Tucker at 14 in the 2021 NFL draft. But they haven’t had a truly great offensive line unit in a long time. They don’t dominate the line of scrimmage like they used to do.
If there’s positions USC is known for, its QBs, running backs, wide receivers, OL and linebackers. As is the case when a school like LSU has a weak secondary, it’s always shocking when USC’s OL is bad.
This is why Riley’s hiring was super important, what he likes offensively fits better than the air raid offense USC’s been running for a while.
Background
Playing on both sides of the ball for Kennedy Catholic, Banuelos was part of a successful time for the Lancers. His freshman year they went 11 – 1, but lost in the Washington 4A state quarterfinals. Sophomore year they went 6 – 0 during the pandemic shortened year. His junior year they went 6 – 3.
Make sure to continue following USC here at Gridiron Heroics, here’s a story about incoming quarterback Malachi Nelson’s new recruit ranking.
