USC’s secondary has spent a lot of time patching holes, and Christian Pierce has become one of the players holding it together.
The Trojans were hit hard by injuries in 2025, with Prophet Brown, Chasen Johnson, Alex Graham, Kamari Ramsey and Bishop Fitzgerald all part of the plan on the back end but none able to get through a full season. Brown and Johnson missed the entire year.
Spring ball brought more of the same, as transfer cornerback Jontez Williams and Christian Pierce were among the players who did not practice. Pierce, who filled an injury void last season, missed spring with an injury of his own, yet he still checks in at No. 10 on the initial Top 30 Most Important USC Players for 2026.
Pierce, a 6-foot-1, 205-pound safety from Rancho Cucamonga High School in Fontana, Calif., arrived at USC as a four-star safety in the 2023 class. He was ranked No. 426 nationally, No. 41 among safeties and No. 32 in California. He was No. 26 on the Top 30 Most Important 2025 list.
His 2026 case starts with what he did last season. After first carving out a role on special teams coverage units, Pierce moved into a much bigger defensive job when injuries forced him onto the field.
He ended up leading all Trojan safeties with 600 snaps and played in all 13 games. Pro Football Focus gave him an overall grade of 66.2, and the most encouraging part of that number was his work in coverage.
In 341 coverage snaps, PFF assigned Pierce a 73.0 grade. He allowed 13 completions on 20 targets for 60 yards and one touchdown, and he did not give up a catch longer than 11 yards all season.
New safeties coach Paul Gonzales didn’t get a spring practice look at Pierce, but he still came away with a clear impression of the veteran.
"You could tell he's a vet," Gonzales said. "Calming presence with him.
He commands the respect of a lot of guys on the team. When he talks, everyone straightens up and listens.
He's one of those kinds of people in the room and in the unit in general, very vigilant kid.
"I never looked over at practice, and he was kind of goofing off or not paying attention. He was very locked in and watching what was going on and sometimes even coaching some of the younger guys up and giving what he was seeing. I'm excited to get him on the field and actually work with him and really kind of figure out how he ticks as a player, because being on the side is one thing, but then when you're in the middle of it, it's a little different experience."
There’s still no locked-in starting point in the secondary heading into fall camp, but Pierce’s place on this list is easy to explain. Gary Patterson’s defense puts plenty on the safety position, and the green dot communication role could land on Pierce or whoever wins that deep safety spot.
Patterson also singled Pierce out while talking about how incomplete the defense looked in the spring. The new staff clearly values him, even without having him available in pads.
Pierce also brings a lot of experience. He has the second-most career snaps played in a Trojan uniform, trailing only Braylan Shelby by 16. He’s back for one more year after stepping up when USC needed him most.
There’s room for him to improve, especially after 17 missed tackles last season, but USC would gladly take another year of the coverage work he delivered in 2025. That kind of steady production makes him one of the more trusted known quantities on the roster, even if he couldn’t climb any higher on the list with tougher-to-replace players still ahead of him.
Last year’s No. 10 was Wingfield, who transferred in from Purdue and looked set to start at left guard before the NCAA ruled him ineligible. That decision set off a chain reaction that left Tobias Raymond at left guard and Justin Tauanuu at right tackle.
No. 11 - Offensive lineman Kilian O'Connor
No. 12 - Cornerback Jontez Williams
No. 13 - Defensive back Alex Graham
No. 14 - Defensive end Braylan Shelby
No. 15 - Tight end Mark Bowman
No. 16 - Wide receiver Terrell Anderson
No. 17 - Defensive lineman Alex VanSumeren
No. 18 - Cornerback Marcelles Williams
No. 19 - Running back King Miller
No. 20 - Safety Kennedy Urlacher
No. 21 - Linebacker Jadyn Walker
No. 22 - Linebacker Deven Bryant
No. 23 - Offensive lineman Alani Noa
No. 24 - Defensive back Prophet Brown
No. 25 - Defensive lineman Floyd Boucard
No. 26 - Kicker Ryon Sayeri
No. 27 - Offensive lineman Justin Tauanuu
No. 28 - Defensive end Luke Wafle
No. 29 - Cornerback Elbert Hill IV
No. 30 - Wide receiver Trent Mosley
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