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USC Players Who Must Live Up To The Hype

From ESPN.com:

Top 5 Offensive Players Who Must Live Up To The Hype

1. Sam Baker, OT, Southern California
Biggest pro: Agility.
Biggest con: Bulk/strength.
Biggest questions: Can he add enough bulk and strength to make a solid contribution as a run-blocker in the NFL? In turn, will he develop more of a mean streak?
Draft projection: Mid-first round.

4. Fred Davis, TE, Southern California
Biggest pro: Seam-stretching receiver.
Biggest con: Lack of strength as an in-line blocker.
Biggest question: Is he functional enough as a blocker to play traditional tight end role in the NFL?
Draft projection: Mid-to-late first round.

Top 5 Defensive Players Who Must Live Up To The Hype

1. Sedrick Ellis, DT, Southern California
Biggest pro: Explosive quickness.
Biggest con: Durability.
Biggest questions: Can he anchor versus bigger blockers when teams run at him? Can he avoid the injury bug at the next level?
Draft projection: Top-10 pick.

3. Keith Rivers, OLB, Southern California
Biggest pro: Motor and leadership.
Biggest con: Not a playmaker in passing game.
Biggest questions: Is he as fast and athletic as the perception? Is he truly an elite prospect or a bit overrated due to sensational supporting cast at USC?
Draft projection: Mid-to-late first round.

Interesting that they said Sam Baker lacks a mean streak; I always thought that was one of Sam's strengths.  I hate to say it, but Sam had an underwhelming year that was reminiscent, injuries and all, of a recent Trojan NFL bust by the name of Jacob Rogers.

Senior Bowl Weigh-In

 

From NFLDraftCountdown.com:

John David Booty (USC) - 6023, 213, 31 1/8, 8 3/8
Notes: Pretty ordinary and did not stand out.

Chauncey Washington (USC) - 5114, 215, 30 4/8, 9 5/8
Notes: Looked pretty strong and thick.

Fred Davis (USC) - 6025, 250, 33 2/8, 9 4/8
Notes: Strong and cut with a solid build.

Sam Baker (USC) - 6044, 308, 32 3/8, 8 2/8
Notes: Solid and looked bigger than expected.

Drew Radovich (USC) - 6043, 302, 33 4/8, 9
Notes: Appeared soft and unimpressive overall.

Sedrick Ellis (USC) - 600, 308, 32 4/8, 8 3/8
Notes: Looked big, stout and very solid.

Lawrence Jackson (USC) - 6043, 261, 33 6/8, 8 4/8
Notes: Big but was not overly impressive.

Keith Rivers (USC) - 6017, 236, 33, 10 3/8
Notes: Impressive. Cut, strong and athletic.

Terrell Thomas (USC) - 6003, 197, 33 3/8, 8 2/8
Notes: Did not really stand out in any one way.

The numbers mean:  (1) height, (2) weight, (3) arm length, and (4) hand length.  So JDB is 6'2 and 3/8", weighs 213lbs, and so on.  Based on the reports I read, Sedrick Ellis, Fred Davis, and Keith Rivers had the best performances from day one.  Here's a link to the video highlights from today's practice. 

Sedrick Ellis Makes AP All-American First Team

From LATimes.com:

USC defensive tackle Sedrick Ellis, the Pacific 10 Conference's defensive player of the year, was selected to the 2007 AP All-America team, which was released this afternoon.

...The second team included USC's Fred Davis at tight end and Sam Baker at tackle on the offense and end Lawrence Jackson on defense.

Trojans safety Taylor Mays was selected to the third-team defense. Also on the third team was California receiver/return specialist DeSean Jackson, a former Long Beach Poly High standout who was chosen as an all-purpose player, and Oregon defensive end Nick Reed, who played at Mission Viejo High.

Congrats to Big Sed and the rest of the Trojans.

All Pac-10 Conference Football Team Announced

From Pac-10.org:

1st Team

Offense

TE - Fred Davis, SR
OL - Chilo Rachal, JR
OL - Sam Baker, SR:

Defense

DL - Sedrick Ellis, SR
DL - Lawrence Jackson, SR
LB - Keith Rivers, SR
LB - Rey Maualuga, JR
DB - Kevin Ellison, JR

2nd Team

Defense

DB - Terrell Thomas, SR

Honorable Mention

LB - Brian Cushing, JR
DL - Everson Griffen, FR
DB - Cary Harris, JR
DB - Taylor Mays, SO
RB/PR - Joe McKnight, FR
OT - Drew Radovich, SR
OL - Matt Spanos, SR
RB - Chauncey Washington, SR
LB - Thomas Williams, SR

Sedrick Ellis also won the "Pat Tillman Defensive Player of the Year" award.  I thought the list was pretty solid especially compared to Rivals.com list, but the only omission that surprised me was Jeff Byers; he should have at least made it to the 2nd team.  Congrats to all the players.

Injury Update - Notre Dame Week

Here's the update:

• John David Booty - Threw with a glove today and looked better than expected.  Could possibly play this Saturday but will likely play a back-up role. 

• Rey Maualuga - Listed as doubtful due to hip pointer.  Thomas Williams would start in place of Rey. 

• Brian Cushing - Coaches are playing it cautious in bringing Cush back due to him reaggravating his ankle injury already.  Likely won't start but might put in some minutes on Saturday. 

• Stafon Johnson - Listed as day-to-day for a sprained foot. 

• Shareece Wright - Practiced today and stated he'll play on Saturday.  Shareece will back-up Terrell Thomas who also has a hamstring injury. 

• Sam Baker - Stated he wants to play on Saturday, but is listed as doubtful due to hamstring injury.

• Chilo Rachal - Expected back today, but is likely day-to-day.   

And amazingly that's the short-list...

SI.com's Top 10 Pac-10 Players

Four SC players on the list:

9.  Keith Rivers - LB
- You could easily get away with placing any of USC's three linebackers on this list, but Rivers is the cream of the crop. The 6-foot-3, 230-pound outside linebacker doesn't have a weakness and led USC with 85 tackles last year.

6.  Sam Baker - LT
- The four-year starter has already earned All-America honors twice. At 6-foot-5, 305 pounds, Baker is an exceptionally reliable blocker on John David Booty's blind side.

4.  Sedrick Ellis - DT
- This 6-foot-1, 285-pounder is the rock at the center of USC's extremely talented defense. Ellis, who bench presses more than 500 pounds, is the strongest player on the Trojans roster.

1.  John David Booty - QB
- Although Darren McFadden finished as runner-up in last year's Heisman Trophy race, many experts believe Booty is the frontrunner for this year's stiff-arming statue. The senior signal-caller finished last season in style, throwing for 391 yards and four touchdowns against a highly regarded Michigan defense.

Personally I would rank Baker and Ellis above Booty...

Thursday Top 3

• Two Trojans are on CNNSI.com's list of Top 25 NFL Draft Candidates for '08:

#17 - Sam Baker

#16 - Keith Rivers

Darren McFadden is #1 on the list. 

• What is wrong with Gregg Doyel?  The man's hatred for USC basketball/Tim Floyd and OJ Mayo makes the stuff written on BruinsNation.com look like child's play.  He makes no effort to mask his hatred and even goes as far as expressing his remorse for having to say something positive about Floyd/USC program.  What exactly did TF do to Gregg Doyel?  Backhand slap his child?  Sleep with his wife?  Anyone know?

Anyways, here's the latest shot from Doyel:

Mayo can't shoot it every time, can he? Oh, you're right. He can, and he will. The selfish pig. Go to the NBA, Gabe. It's not like you'd touch the ball next season.

Calling a HS senior that he most likely doesn't know personally a "selfish pig" is pretty extreme if you ask me...

• Thanks to "Sam" for pointing out a mistake in my previous post regarding the team with the most 1st round picks.  I guess the writer for the Columbus-Dispatch got his numbers wrong and USC is still #1 all-time. 

Tuesday Top 3

• Here's a seven-round NFL mock draft from Tom Marino of Scout.com.  Tom has Dwayne Jarrett as a 1st round 30th pick, Steve Smith as a 2nd round 41st pick, Ryan Kalil as a 2nd round 46th pick, and Dallas Sartz as a 5th round 147th pick.   

• Sam Baker and Keith Rivers were named to the Playboy All-American team. 

• Nice to see Steve Smith getting some attention.  Interesting little tidbit:

It's another great receiver who Smith tries to emulate. That would be Jerry Rice, who is part of the agency that represents Smith. Rice's visit to the Smith home helped convince him to sign with his current agency and agent Ralph Cindrich.

Rice, in fact, was the one who pushed Cindrich to make a run at Smith.

"He told me he's the guy he really liked," Cindrich said.

I think SS will represent well in the pros...