Breaking down the recent USC commits
Randy Taylor from National Preps joined the WeAreSC Podcast this week and he gave his thoughts on each of the four recent USC commits, as well as some thoughts on each of the players being a 3-star ranked recruit.
Stanley Taufoou (Grace Brethren HS)
"I love that kid. I think he’s a versatile guy. He could play inside and be a stout inside linebacker, or he could also put his hand on the ground and play in that edge position that SC uses with a guy who is athletic enough to get into underneath coverage, play off the tight end, a guy like Nwosu comes to mind. I’m a big fan of Stanley, just a real physical kid."
Trey Davis (Federal Way, WA)
“To me this is another versatile guy. A lot of people like to look at the 40 time but I always like to look at vertical jump and he has a 36 inch vertical as a young kid, he’s at 11 in the 100 meters, good size. I think he could play nickel, he could be a physical corner or he could play safety. He’s got the skills to play all of those spots. He can turn and run, he’s got good ball skills and instincts. Just huge upside with this kid.
Gino Quinones (St. Louis, HI)
“When you watch Gino on defense he does have some abilities, maybe to be a defensive end in a 3-4 or a defensive tackle in a 4-3. However, you look at him and you think “this guy could be an offensive lineman”. To me, I always want to look at tight ends and defensive linemen and wonder if they could be offensive linemen. They have to have some athleticism and skills to play defense so can that translate to offense in college? To me it’s a no-brainer with Gino who is a big raw athlete, I think he could easily make the move.
Kedon Slovis (Desert Mountain, AZ)
“When I’m watching tape of him the thing that jumps out to me, kind of like the most recent USC quarterback, is that he’s really good outside the pocket. He throws so well on the run that it just reminds you of Darnold. He can sit in the pocket and throw, I don’t think he has the arm strength of Darnold but he’s got the other stuff and can make most college throws. I don’t know if he’s 6-3 or 6-2, doesn’t really matter, he’s a real nice athlete who makes a ton of plays. And the 32-5 TD to interception ratio is really good, especially for a first year quarterback.
All four of these guys were 3-stars
“I think the star system is great for the internet sites, the media, and that’s what it was designed for to give fans some way of tracking players. And when SC offers a kid like that, a 3-star, there are two things that are going to happen; many other schools will offer and his star rating is going to shoot up. That’s the way the process works. I don’t think anyone in the internet media has delusions of telling a school like USC that they need to offer a guy, no matter who good of an evaluator they are. The college coaches don’t go into a meeting saying “this kid has so many stars”, they go into the meeting saying “this is a kid I love and here’s why”. Do coaches look at who has been offered or what the competition is doing? Sure. So coaches do look at this stuff and there is a value to it, it’s just two different worlds and two different jobs. I can guarantee you with kids like Davis and Stanley and the others, the SC coaches have seen them in person and know enough about them to see something they like. There aren’t too many kids though that everyone likes, I’ve been in staff meetings where we look at a player who was offered at another school and think “why did they offer that guy?” and then in two years he’s kicking your butt!
