USC football recruiting 2013 updates

Ty Isaac isn’t the only elite running back committed to the USC Trojans, but he’s the biggest -- and also considered to be the best.

The Joliet, Illi., native is a little bit larger than your average player at his position: he’s listed at 6’3, 215 pound, more befitting of a wide receiver, or perhaps a safety. No matter: Rivals has him as a five-star recruit, the fourth best running back in the country, while Scout and ESPN put him slightly lower, but still as one of the top 15 players at his position in the nation. SB Nation’s recruiting analyst Bud Elliott saw potential in the player’s size when writing up his commitment -- not to mention that it could make him a good fit with Lane Kiffin’s squad:

De La Salle linebacker Michael Hutchings has been well-publicized for a few years now, and his pledge to the USC Trojans this summer was no big surprise. Hutchings is one of many top recruits who figures to crack the Trojans’ rotation early.

Hutchings does one thing extremely well - tackle. He gets right to his man and uses excellent technique to get low and take out his opponent’s forward motion. He also takes good angles to find his man and take him down in open space. Here is the scouting report on Hutchings.

Mitchell is a great wide receiver prospect, with the ability to move quickly upfield and get open on deep vertical patterns. That should play well in USC’s pro-style offense, as should his versatility to operate as the outside man or in the slot. Mitchell should fit well in Lane Kiffin’s offense, as he can cause all sorts of match-up nightmares. He’s on the smaller side, but he has plenty of burst to get on top of his man and slither his way open.

Derrell Warren of SB Nation filed this scouting report of Mitchell back in June.

Quinton Powell will help ease the wounds of USC’s bleeding recruiting class, picking the Trojans in a TV ceremony on ESPNU. Powell ended up picking USC over Oregon, Miami and South Carolina. Powell was originally a Florida commit but reopened his recruitment in the winter and decided the Trojans were the place for him.

Powell is one of the top linebackers in the country, and even though he’s a bit on the small size, he has the potential to be an excellent speed rusher and blitzer as he develops. Despite Powell’s diminutive frame, he has a solid base that allows him to get away from blockers and move toward the ball carrier.

The USC Trojans are landing multiple top recruits at numerous positions of need. They found a quarterback to replace Matt Barkley in Max Browne, a running back to replace Curtis McNeal in Justin Davis, and two lockdown safeties in Su’a Cravens and Leon McQuay III.

Cornerback Chris Hawkins is going to be one of those prominent prospects that’ll be able to come into spring practice and make a big impact. He signed early with the Trojans and is enrolled for the spring semester, so he’ll be competing early and often to try and leap up the depth chart. USC is a little bit deeper at corner than they are at other positions, but Hawkins will definitely have a great chance to place himself in the mix.

The thing you notice most on Hawkins on tape is the ability to play close up on his receiver. Hawkins is able to play press coverage and get tight on his man and not afford him any opportunity to get open at numerous points where the quarterback and the wide receiver are trying to connect.

But Hawkins can also play zone coverage as well and still be adept at playing tight to the vest. He has great anticipation of when the quarterback is about to throw the football and can come back and defend the pass. His closing speed is exceptional and makes it incredibly tough for a receiver to play against him one-on-one.

Hawkins is also solid in run coverage. He slips the wide receiver blocks with ease and does a good job containing the edge and not letting the running back get to his outside shoulder, and usually ends up sticking the ball-carrier when he comes right at him.

With USC losing multiple secondary prospects including junior cornerback Nickell Robey, Hawkins could come in and challenge for a starting spot from day one.

When watching Leon McQuay on tape, the first thing that stands out is his range. McQuay covers a lot of field in a hurry and finds his way from one side of the field to the other. He can play cornerback if needed because he’s able to defend wide receivers one-on-one thanks to his long arms and ability to drape on the receiver. McQuay also has the instincts to go after the football when he’s draped in coverage and try to make a play on the ball and give himself as many opportunities for interceptions as possible.

However, his future is almost certainly positioned at safety, where he’s tall, instinctive and quick to the ball. McQuay has great roaming skills and a good idea as to where the football is going, and always seems to be in position to make quick hits when ball-carriers come near. This is true not only in pass coverage but also in run support, when McQuay is often called upon to make the hit in open field. McQuay makes good reads, is sound and fundamental in his technique and runs his man down.

His burst makes it hard for anyone to catch up with him once he finds the crease. Davis is strong enough to attack the hole with impunity and get out in the open field, and by that point it’s hard to bring him down. Most of his highlights have him exploding through wide-open holes, so it’s pretty easy for him to put up points. However, he also shows an ability to get out of trouble, follow his blocks, find the crease, and burst out into the hole.

Davis is one of the seven USC early entries who has already signed his letter of intent and is preparing for Spring camp. Davis figures to pair up with Ty Isaac from Joliet, Ill., and give USC two new running backs that will prepare the Trojans for the next era of USC football.

Ratings: Five stars

Browne is an early entree for the Trojans in 2013. At 6’5, 214 pounds, he already has the prototypical frame and necessary physical and mental ability to make all the standard throws. Browne has been a relentless producer throughout high school. Browne was also named the Gatorade National Football Player of the Year and led Skyline to two straight Class 4A state titles.

For more on USC football, go to Conquest Chronicles.

USC has already recruited the best pro-style quarterback in the country in Max Browne along with potentially the two best safeties in Su’a Cravens and Leon McQuay III. Bigelow, Jason Hatcher and Torrodney Prevot are the current USC defensive line commits and figure to be instant contenders to contribute in the Trojan rotation sooner rather than later.

Su’a Cravens officially joins USC Wednesday, as the five-star safety signs with the school he committed to in June.

Cravens, a 6-foot-1, 205-pounder from Murrieta, California, is universally considered the top safety in his class. There was some talk of the player as a linebacker, as Derrell Warren wrote when breaking down the recruit in April. Cravens had dozens of offers, but was most notably considering Michigan and USC’s rival in southern California, UCLA, before he eventually committed in June.

The USC Trojans have been struggling to hold on their recruits lately, but they got some good news tonight when one of their decommits came back into the fold. Trinity defensive end Jason Hatcher from Louisville recommitted to USC tonight and looks like he’s back for good. The USC Rivals site confirms Hatcher’s recommitment, and so does Hatcher on his Twitter account.

Hatcher seemed to be ready to take a look at alternative options when he reopened his recruitment a week ago. Kentucky and Louisville both seemed to be primary contenders, and Hatcher took an official visit to Florida this past week.

Defensive end prospect Kylie Fitts took an official visit to Notre Dame this weekend ($) and enjoyed the experience. Fitts liked how important faith is to the football program, and he thinks the school is the total package.

Fitts had been a USC commitment until he was told his scholarship had been deferred from the spring to the fall. Fitts took extra classes in high school to graduate early with plans to enroll at USC in January. But the Trojans ended up not having room for him this semester, and now he’s exploring other options.

Top linebacker recruit Quinton Powell, of Daytona Beach (Fla.) Mainland, knows his final two schools.

Powell, a four-star recruit, announced via his Facebook that he was cancelling visits to South Carolina, Oregon and Miami. He will decide between Florida, the school to which he was once committed, and USC, where he recently visited.

USC is close to the scholarship crunch due to sanctions, so Hatcher’s decommitment could have had something to do with lack of space.

With the decommitment of Hatcher, USC is down to two defensive line verbals. Both defensive end Kenny Bigelow and Torrodney Prevot still remain committed to USC and have yet to sign. Thanks to these stats courtesy of Annabel Stephan, 19 players have committed to USC for the 2012-13 recruiting class at some point, and six have decommitted from the Trojans, or 31% of their class. USC will have a lot of scrambling to do before National Signing Day to ensure that its class stays as intact as possible.

He spoke with Scout’s Greg Biggins about his decision ($):

Vanderdoes has not eliminated USC and some would even consider the Trojans the favorite to land the big tackle. And for their part, USC will not be giving up.

Via the USC RIPSIT Blog

Yes, that’s sarcasm. USC already has the top 2013 recruiting class, according to Rivals, and it’s just turned one of its very few weaknesses into a massive strength by opening the John McKay Center, a $70 million, 110,000-square-foot athletic facility. Among early reactions from those who got to take a look: our own Scott Enyeart says it trumps even the Seattle Seahawks’ practice facility, which is the second-biggest in the NFL.

Listed at 6’2 and 195 pounds, Redfield profiles similarly to rising USC senior safety, T.J. McDonald. SB Nation scout Derrell Warren profiled Redfield in early June:

Redfield joins Su’a Cravens to form the best safety pair in the country.

Ramsey stars for Brentwood (Tenn.) Academy. He chose USC over offers from Auburn, Clemson, Mississippi, Tennessee, Vanderbilt and Washington, with Vanderbilt making a strong push late.

Ramsey was a consensus four-star recruit and a borderline top-100 player nationally as of mid-June, but an exceptional performance at The Opening in early July has him shooting up recruiting boards on all four of the major services.

I saw Vanderdoes recently at Nike’s The Opening, where he was extremely impressive. Vanderdoes also has excellent length. He is a physical, tough player with a mean streak.

USC now has 14 commitments in its 2013 class, including defensive tackle studs Kenny Bigelow and Vanderdoes. Even with sanctions, USC could take as many as 18 recruits.

Falah has a very good frame at 6-foot-5 and 270 pounds, and the length coaches covet at the tackle position.

Falah primarily uses his quickness to overwhelm opponents in the run game. He can slide to pick up defenders a gap away. Falah also climbs well to the second level, showing awareness and taking good angles to cut off linebackers.

Four-star defensive end Joe “Jo Jo” Mathis of Upland (Calif.) High School has been a busy prospect these past few weeks. On the weekend of June 16-17, Mathis was in San Diego helping Upland’s 7-on-7 squad earn a championship at San Diego State University’s annual passing league tournament. This past weekend, the 6’4, 250-pound Mathis flew over to Atlanta to compete in the Rivals 100 challenge. Mathis acquitted himself well against some of the elite offensive line prospects in the country, gaining several wins in the 1-on-1 portion of the event. On Wednesday, Mathis was a standout performer in the star studded USC rising stars camp.

The Trojans have not shown Mathis a large amount of interest over these past few months. This was especially evident after USC gained an early commitment from fellow four-star defensive end Kylie Fitts. Mathis, however, changed that with his performance at the Trojans’ camp. Mathis had previously stated that he favored Nebraska, Washington and Michigan in his recruitment. However, it’s likely that this most recent visit to USC has put the Trojans in much better position to land the big defender’s services. Next up for Mathis will be a trip to Beaverton, Ore., to participate in “The Opening” July 5-8 on the Nike campus. SB Nation is covering The Opening and will speak with Mathis at the event.

He also claims offers from USC, UCLA, California, Arizona, Arizona State, Boise State, Colorado, Miami, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Oregon, Oregon State, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Utah, Washington and Washington State

SB Nation’s Derrell Warren scouted Hutchings in May and found him to be an excellent prospect.

Four-star “athlete” Sebastian Larue, a 5’11, 185-pound prospect from Santa Monica (Calif.) High School attended USC’s skill position camp on June 100. After a full day of matching himself against some of the top talent in California, the Inglewood native earned an offer from the Trojans. Larue, who by his own admission didn’t necessarily grow up a USC fan pondered the offer for over 10 days before pulling the trigger and committing to Trojans on June 21.

Last season, Larue, who transferred to Santa Monica High from Orange County powerhouse; Lutheran, caught 55 passes for over 900 yards and 12 scores. On the other side of the ball, Larue picked off three passes, returning one for a score. Larue became the 10th pledge of USC’s 2013 recruiting class, selecting the Trojans over programs such as Arizona, Arizona State, Washington, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Michigan, Oklahoma and UCLA.

Wide receiver Steven Mitchell of Mission Hills (Calif.) Bishop Alemany High School was the ninth commitment of USC’s 2013 recruiting class. The 5’11, 175-pound prospect was offered by Trojan head coach Lane Kiffin at the conclusion of USC’s June 10 skills position camp in which Mitchell stood out amongst a talented group of receivers. Mitchell promptly pledged his services to the Trojans upon receiving the offer. An invitee to Nike’s televised elite camp event “The Opening”, Mitchell gave his childhood favorite the nod over such programs as Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, and Oregon.

Listed as an athlete by most recruiting services, Mitchell is projected to receive the bulk of his snaps at wide receiver for USC. While appearing somewhat smaller in stature than listed, Mitchell seems to have added a few pounds of good weight to his upper half since the conclusion of his junior season. That assessment is based on video from Mitchell’s camp appearances and seven-on-seven performances over the spring and early summer. This should help to ease any durability concerns that may exist as he possesses the skill-set to receive touches as both a receiver and punt returner.