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Recruiting: Cody Kessler Recruiting Hard for USC

From Rivals.com:

Playing in the Army game will be the major focus of Kessler's week in San Antonio but he also plans to recruit other top prospects to USC. Fellow Army invitees De'Anthony Thomas and Victor Blackwell, two other USC commits, have already discussed which recruits they should go after.

Target No. 1 will be five-star outside linebacker and Alabama commit Brent Calloway. Gardena (Calif.) Serra five-star wide receiver George Farmer is also high on the wish list - that's if he's not already committed to the Trojans.

"What we're going to do, we've already talked about it, we're going to start recruiting guys that we want," Kessler said. "Brent Calloway is one of my really good friends. We went down there last year for the combine, we met, and he stayed with us and we talk all the time.

"I'll text him once a week and just say, 'SC.' I've been trying to get him to come. We talk a lot. He's from Alabama so it's hard for him to change his mind but hopefully once we get down there and hang out again we can change his mind."

That would be a big-time pull.  Hope Cody can make it happen.

USC Commitment: Centennial QB Cody Kessler Commits to USC

Another big pick-up by the coaching staff.  Cody is one of the top ranked pro-style QBs in the nation this year.  He was also considered the top performer at the recent Elite 11 QB camp in Berkeley.

I mentioned in a previous post, that bringing on Cody seems to signal that the coaching staff is looking to stockpile QB talent to make up for the lack of slam dunk elite QB recruits in recent years.  As good as Cody is, plus Max Wittek and Jesse Scroggins for that matter, none of them are on the level of Mark Sanchez or Matt Barkley coming out of HS.  Better to bring in a lot of guys and have them build each other up through competition.

The more I watch Cody, the more intriguing he is as a prospect.  He doesn't have prototypical NFL height (he's only 6'1/6'2) and his mechanics are a bit sloppy but he's built solid, has good mobility, and throws with excellent accuracy (biggest selling point of his game).  One of the marks of a good QB is the ability to adjust velocity without sacrificing accuracy on throws and Cody does this well.  He's also good on the move.  His biggest flaw at this point is that he comes from a shotgun offense, so he'll have to adjust to taking snaps from under center.

In terms of a comparison, he reminds me of former Cal QB Aaron Rodgers.  Cody has similar mechanics to Aaron in college (he's since cleaned up in the pros), they're similar in size, work well in the short-to-mid passing game, and can buy some time with their feet while throwing on the run.

Again, great pick-up by the staff.  Cody has a real solid shot at being the successor to Matt Barkley.  Should be fun to watch his development.

Recruiting: USC Offers Centennial QB Cody Kessler & Mater Dei WR Victor Blackwell

The Kessler offer is an interesting one because it signals, at least to me, that the staff is trying to overlap quarterbacks to create competition in either 2012 or 2013 when Matty B. leaves. I mean when was the last time SC took 3 QBs (4 if you count preferred walk-on Anthony Neyer) in a span of 2 years? Add another QB next year (definitely possible) and that's almost as many as Pete recruited in his entire stay at SC.

Personally I think it's the right move, even though transfers are inevitable. The staff realizes they don't have a sure-fire QB to the caliber of Mark Sanchez or Matt Barkley so their only chance in creating one is through the type of competition generated by having 3 or 4 players compete for the same spot.

As for the Blackwell offer, the timing of it is strange. It's not like this offer is coming off a camp evaluation, so it makes you wonder if there was more at play. Regardless, it seems like VB has taken the staff's delay in offering to heart. Right now I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up at SC or heads elsewhere - complete toss-up.