USC Trojans: #1 Wide Receiver Pipeline to the NFL

USC is the best wide receiver-producing college football program.

According to ESPN, the following are the top ten wide receier-producing universities:

1. USC
2. Ohio State
3. LSU
4. Alabama
5. Oklahoma
6. Oklahoma State
7. Florida State
8. Florida
9. Pittsburgh
10. Notre Dame

Let’s take a look at 1) former great Trojan wide receivers, 2) Trojan wide receivers currently in the NFL, and 3) Trojan wide receivers on their way to the NFL:

Legendary USC Wide Receivers from the Past

Southern Cal has a rich history at the wide receiver position including the likes of Lynn Swann, J.K. McKay, Keyshawn Johnson, and Steve Smith, to name just a few.

Three-time All-Pro Lynn Swann was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2001. He played on the Trojans’ 1972 national championship team and was a consensus All-American in 1973. He is also in the College Football Hall of Fame.

The 1972 national championship team on which Swann played has been rated by ESPN as the second-greatest college football team of all time. That team went 12-0, finishing its season with a 42-17 blowout win over Ohio State in the Rose Bowl, and was the first team ever to be named No. 1 on every ballot cast in both the AP Poll and the Coaches Poll.

A unique fact about Trojan wide receiver Steve Smith, who is 38 years old (as of March 2024) is that he was born in Anchorage, Alaska.

Smith was a first-team All-American for the Trojans in 2006. His teammates at USC included Heisman Trophy winners Matt Leinert and Reggie Bush.

In his standout NFL career, Smith was named to a Pro Bowl and won a championship in Super Bowl XLII. In that Super Bowl, Smith caught five passes, including a clutch catch in the fourth quarter.

The author of “Just Give Me the Damn Ball“, Keyshawn Johnson is a big personality. (Steven A. Smith co-authored the auto-biography with Johnson.)

Johnson played two seasons for the Trojans — 1994 and 1995. He was an All-American in both seasons and a unanimous first-team All-American in 1995. He was also the Rose Bowl MVP that season, after amassing a record 216 receiving yards in the game.

The New York Jets selected Johnson with the No.1 overall pick in the 1996 NFL Draft.

Over the course of his NFL career, Johnson was selected to three Pro Bowls, and he won a Super Bowl championship with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He had over 10,000 receiving yards and 64 touchdown receptions.

Trojan Wide Receivers Currently in the NFL

Here are the eight Trojan wide receivers currently (as of March 2024) in the NFL:

• Amon-Ra St. Brown
• Drake London
• Jordan Addison
• Michael Pittman, Jr.
• Robert Woods
• Nelson Agholor
• Terrell Bynum
• Ju Ju Smith-Schuster

Addison, St. Brown, London, Agholor, and Pittman are all listed by their teams as starters. Woods and Smith-Schuster have previously been starting NFL receivers.

More Trojan WRs En Route to the NFL

The Trojans are once again loaded at the wide receiver position, despite the fact that two of their leading receivers from the 2023 season are slated to be selected in the 2024 NFL Draft:

Declared for the Draft

Two starting wide receivers from the Trojans’ 2023 squad are in the upcoming draft: Brenden Rice and Tahj Washington.

1. Brenden Rice

The son of legendary wide receiver Jerry Rice, Brenden Rice decided to forego his final year of eligibility at USC and enter the 2024 NFL Draft.

Rice had the seventh most touchdown receptions in the country in the 2023 season, and he was second-team All-Pac 12.

Rice has been projected as a potential third- or fourth-round draft pick. Ironically, in a mock draft conducted by The Athletic, Rice goes in the third round to his Dad’s old team, the San Francisco 49ers.

2. Tahj Washington

Speedy Tahj Washington had over 1,000 receiving yards in the 2023 season, along with 59 receptions, eight touchdowns, and an average of 18 yards per catch.

Washington has run the 40-yeard dash in 4.32 seconds.

Likely 2024 Trojan QB1 Miller Moss speaks glowingly about Washington:

“Tahj is just the man. There’s so many things that you don’t see that he does, whether it’s on special teams, whether it’s blocking on the perimeter. It’s no surprise to see that he shines in the way that he does.”

In a mock draft conducted by the Los Angeles Football Network (LAFB) on March 8, 2024, Washington was selected in the fifth round by the Los Angeles Rams.

On the Current Roster

The three projected starting wide receivers for the Trojans in 2024 are Duce Robinson, Kyron Hudson, and über-talented Zachariah Branch.

1. Zachariah Branch

Branch was born in 2004 and raised in Las Vegas, Nevada. Growing up, he frequently attended USC games in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum with his brother Zion, who is a safety on the Trojans.

Zachariah Branch was regarded as the “most dynamic skill player” in the 2023 recruiting class. Recruiters projected him “as an instant impact game-breaker at the college level with immense long-term potential.” He was the highest-rated wide receiver in the nation in that recruiting class.

Branch chose the Trojans over Ohio State, Alabama, and Oklahoma.

In 2023, Branch became USC’s first ever true freshman First Team All-American.  He was named a USA Today first-team All-American as a returner, a PFF First Team All-American as a return specialist, and a Sporting News First Team All-American as a punt returner.

As noted in his online Trojan bio:

“He is the first Trojan since Adoree’ Jackson in 2016 to have a punt return and kickoff return for a TD, as well as at least one receiving TD in the same season.”

Branch’s great uncle is the late Cliff Branch — the legendary Raiders wide receiver who is enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

2. Duce Robinson

19-year-old sophomore Duce Robinson is a tall, gifted athlete. He is 6’6″, and plays on the Trojans baseball team, and is considered a Major League Baseball prospect.

He was a five-star recruit coming out of high school. After receiving offers from Georgia, Alabama, Texas, and Oregon, Robinson committed to play both football and baseball at USC.

Given the talented pool of receivers at USC during Robinson’s freshman year, his playing time in the 2023 season was limited. However, he did have 16 receptions for a total of 351 yards, for an impressive average of 21.9 yards per reception. He also had two touchdown receptions.

 3. Kyron Hudson

As a redshirt junior, Hudson is the most experienced of the projected 2024 starters at the wide receiver position.

Over the course of his Trojan career, Hudson has appeared in 28 games and started in three. He has 34 receptions for 345 yards (10.1 avg) with five touchdowns. He also blocked a kick on special teams.

Up until this point, Hudson has mainly backed up the talented receivers who preceded him. He looks to have a break-out year in 2024.

Wide Receiver U is locked and loaded yet again.

For more related sports news, focused primarily on the USC Trojans, SMU Mustangs, and Los Angeles Rams, please follow me at @vshjah_Victor.