LOS ANGELES — Two of the three transfers USC landed for its new-look offensive line have already taken their places up front this spring. The third, however, won't be coming to USC after all.
Ethan White was expected to join USC from Florida this summer with one season to play as a graduate transfer. But an injury has left White "reevaluating if he's going to play football further," according to Trojans coach Lincoln Riley. The coach didn't offer any specifics about the nature of what's apparently a career-threatening injury.
"There's an injury situation that looks like it's going to prevent him from playing further, and I'll let him take it from there," Riley said Thursday. "Obviously, we were excited to get him. It's football — certainly these things come up and we get it. There's football and there's also long-term health, and we understand guys have got to make those decisions and the best decisions for themselves."
White isn't the only experienced player that USC has lost along its front this spring. Reserve offensive tackle Courtland Ford, who started 12 games over the past three seasons, entered the NCAA transfer portal, leaving the line lighter at tackle and guard.
"When you lose essentially two older guys that you're expecting to have on the roster and all of a sudden they're not going to be there, it's certainly something that has to be addressed and we're going to try to get it addressed here in the next several weeks," Riley said.
Already, USC has offered at least two transfer guards — Houston's Cam'Ron Johnson and Wyoming's Emmanuel Pregnon — in hopes of filling the spot White won't be taking.
Riley said he expected to add "a guy or two" to the group but praised the performance of USC's reserve linemen in the spring game, including freshman Elijah Paige, who made an especially strong impression at left tackle.
Miller Moss 'clearly' No. 2
Malachi Nelson might be the five-star heir apparent to Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams, but after spring, junior Miller Moss is "pretty clearly the second guy right now" at quarterback for USC, Riley said Thursday.
"That's no surprise," the coach said.
Nelson was still working his way back from shoulder surgery in December and "wasn't physically in a great place" at the start of spring.
"He started spring football without having thrown a football in months, which is not ideal," Riley said of Nelson.
But the freshman's passing improved as camp went along. Even if he wasn't at full strength, Riley said he thought the reps were critical for Nelson's early development.
Last Saturday, he turned the ball over three times during USC's spring game but led a late two-minute drill that Riley said left him impressed.
"He'll get healthier, get stronger, knowledge of the offense will get better and I would suspect we'll see a much different player when we get back in July," Riley said.
Etc.
Riley called freshman edge rusher Sam Greene "one of the surprises of spring" and assured that he would play a pass-rushing role in the fall. "The track he's on is exciting," Riley said. … Raleek Brown sat out half of spring practice because of a soft-tissue injury, forcing USC to focus on his development as a receiver, as opposed to running back, Riley said. . … USC will open its fall camp on July 27.
