Arik Armstead may be wearing Jacksonville Jaguars colors now, but the former Oregon standout is still showing up in the middle of the college football conversation.
At Sack Summit in Las Vegas, Armstead linked up with USC sophomore defensive lineman Jahkeem Stewart, giving the rising Trojan a chance to work alongside one of the NFL’s most accomplished pass rushers. The event is built around the idea of “iron sharpening iron,” bringing together top college and pro players to trade techniques and mental approaches.
Armstead posted photos from the clinic with Stewart, and the USC defender wasn’t the only familiar face in the mix. Current Oregon defensive lineman Bear Alexander was also there, appearing in a few of the images as well.
The summit is hosted by NFL veterans Maxx Crosby, Cameron Jordan and Von Miller, and it has the same kind of cross-position, cross-level feel as Tight End University, the annual gathering run by George Kittle, Travis Kelce and former tight end Greg Olsen.
For Stewart, the chance to learn from Armstead matters. He’s entering his sophomore season and is eligible for the 2028 NFL Draft, while Alexander is already on the radar for the 2027 NFL Draft. Both are still early in their careers, and both are trying to absorb as much as they can from players who’ve already made the jump.
Stewart backed up the buzz in 2025, when he was named a PFF Freshman All-American. He made a quick imprint on USC’s defensive front with 18 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss totaling 27 yards, 1.5 sacks, one interception, one fumble recovery and one quarterback hurry.
Alexander, meanwhile, came to Oregon in 2025 after previously being a Trojan, and he wasted little time making himself useful for the Ducks. He finished that season with a career-best 50 total tackles, including 18 solo stops, matched a career high with 6.5 tackles for loss and added a sack, two fumble recoveries and a pass breakup.
Oregon and USC will be back on the same field in 2026, with the Ducks opening Big Ten play by heading to the L.A. Memorial Coliseum to face the Trojans on Sept. 26 in Los Angeles.
Armstead, for his part, is still very much in the middle of his own NFL story. He worked through a hand injury late in the 2025-26 season and still produced at a high level, finishing with 41 quarterback pressures in 12 games, the third-highest total among defensive tackles during that span.
Ducks fans have plenty to point to when they look back at Armstead’s career. He was named the 2025 Walter Payton Man of the Year at NFL Honors, becoming the first Duck ever to win the award. The honor recognizes both on-field performance and community impact, and it’s widely viewed as one of the league’s most prestigious.
A Sacramento native, Armstead spent nine seasons with the 49ers and started 97 of 116 regular-season games. He also started all 12 of his playoff games in San Francisco, including Super Bowl LIV against the Kansas City Chiefs.
He signed a three-year, $43.5 million deal with the Jaguars in 2024, closing the book on his West Coast run.
Before the NFL, Armstead played three seasons at Oregon from 2012 to 2014, with his college resume highlighted by a career-high nine tackles in the College Football Playoff National Championship against Ohio State. San Francisco selected him No. 17 overall in the 2015 draft.
In Other News...
Quentin Hale Just Sent USC Fans A Big Message About 2027
Quentin Hales commitment gave USC another important foothold in the 2027 recruiting race, and it fit the broader pattern the Trojans have been building in California. The four-star receiver from Corona Centennial joins a class that already has real momentum in-state, with USC holding pledges from five of the top ten prospects in California for the cycle.
Hales value for USC goes beyond his own talent, too, because he has already started working as a recruiter for the program. He has been pushing local standouts such as Malaki Davis and Hayden Koo to take a serious look at the Trojans, a sign that USC is not just landing elite California prospects but also getting them to help sell the vision to others. [Read more 🡒]
USC Commit Jace Cannon Is Starting To Look Like A Bigger Get
Jace Cannons USC pledge in the 2027 class looked like a solid early add when he committed as a tight end, but his stock has started to move in a way that makes the Trojans hold on him feel even more valuable. The Junipero Serra High School junior backed up the buzz with a productive season and the kind of athletic profile that keeps evaluators paying attention, which is why his recruiting momentum has only grown in recent weeks.
On3/Rivals rewarded that progress with a bump to four-star status, a sign that Cannon is no longer just a promising local commit but a prospect whose ceiling is drawing real national notice. USC still has a young tight end commit with room to develop, especially in the physical parts of the position, but the bigger question now is whether the Trojans can keep him in the fold as more programs take a closer look. [Read more 🡒]
USC Recruits Made A Bigger Statement Than Fans Expected At 7v7
The Battle at the Beach 7v7 at Edison High in Huntington Beach gave a packed group of Southern California programs a chance to show off, but the USC pipeline stood out in a way that went beyond the usual summer camp buzz. Among the 20 high schools in the mix, several top recruits and Trojans commits kept flashing the kind of versatility that makes 7v7 more than just a passing drill, with receivers, defensive backs and hybrid athletes all taking turns making their case.
Honor Faalave-Johnson, Quentin Hale and Jalen Flowers were especially hard to miss, each showing why USC has been so aggressive in this part of the recruiting map. The most intriguing part for the Trojans is how many of these players are not just winning one-on-one snaps, but impacting games in multiple spots on the field, which is exactly the sort of development that can turn a strong summer showing into something much bigger once the season starts. [Read more 🡒]