LOS ANGELES — Back in the foundational days of USC defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn’s coaching experience, back when he’d share a glass of whiskey with Houston Texas defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver during Saturday night game-planning, Lynn learned a crucial lesson from Weaver – a longtime NFL colleague with a specialty in the defensive line.
“He saw when we were successful, and why,” Weaver, now the defensive line coach of the Baltimore Ravens, told the Southern California News Group in December. “And the times we weren’t, particularly up front, is because we didn’t have complementary pieces.”
It’s built the foundation for Lynn’s defensive understanding, predicated in large part on versatility in size on the line, with pieces that can stay on the field for multiple downs and multiple fronts. And on Tuesday afternoon, USC picked up a crucial piece amid this puzzle of a roster entering the Big Ten, as Texas A&M transfer defensive tackle Isaiah Raikes announced he is committing to USC.
Raikes’ size is what jumps off the page, an SEC-level build at 6-foot-2 and 320 pounds – larger than anyone USC had playing consistent snaps on its defensive front in 2023. It’s a temporary fill-in, as Raikes has just one year of eligibility remaining, but should form an imposing tandem up the middle and relieve some pressure off the returning Bear Alexander.
Raikes’ stats didn’t jump off the page last season at A&M, recording 17 tackles and five pressures, according to Pro Football Focus. But he split his snaps virtually even in run-defense and pass-rush situations, thriving most particularly against the run, a major need for USC after they were frequently shredded up the middle by ball carriers in 2023.
“You need certain types of bodies on the edge, you need certain types of bodies on the inside where you can move those guys around,” Lynn explained in his introductory press conference in December. “So if we want to go from a four-down front to a five-down front, we don’t need to sub to put a bigger guy in, because we have the personnel where we can just go ahead and do that with the guys we have on the field.”
Suddenly, USC can entrench a tandem of Raikes and Alexander at nose tackle, flanked by possible linemen like Vanderbilt transfer Nate Clifton and incoming freshmen Carlon Jones and Jide Abasiri. There’s still a definite need for more bodies on the line, as the depth chart is thin with a slew of graduating seniors, but USC got one step closer to fulfilling Lynn’s vision on Tuesday.
