Kilian O’Connor’s season-ending injury changes the conversation for USC, but it doesn’t blow up the offensive line picture as much as it might have. The Trojans are still headed toward a familiar-looking starting five, with the biggest adjustment coming at center.
O’Connor is done for the year after a non-contact injury and surgery, a tough ending for a player whose path from walk-on to starter made him a meaningful presence in the locker room. With him out, Tobias Raymond becomes the easy answer in the middle. He was already the post-spring projection at center, and now that move feels locked in.
Raymond is USC’s most versatile lineman and, in this view, the best all-around option up front. Putting him at center also fits his long-term NFL projection. There are other names in the mix, including Willi Wascher and Kannon Smith, but Raymond is the clear choice.
The rest of the projected starting group stays close to what it was coming out of spring. Elijah Paige remains the left tackle, and there’s no real debate there.
He’s one of the most talented linemen on the roster and has the traits to become one of the better tackles in the country. The questions are about consistency, that nasty edge, and health - not whether he starts.
At left guard, Hayden Treter still gets the nod. He hasn’t played a ton, but he has been in the program, was finally healthy last year, and brings the kind of size and development that has coaches feeling good about where he’s headed. Experience is the main concern, but the projection hasn’t changed.
Right guard is where things could get interesting as the season moves along. For now, Alani Noa is the projected starter for Week 1.
But Breck Kolojay is pushing, and he’s expected to get plenty of early-season reps against a lighter non-conference schedule. Kolojay has the look of a future star, and there’s a real chance he forces his way into the lineup before Big Ten play begins.
On the right side, Elijah Vaikona has the edge at tackle over Justin Tauanuu, who missed all of spring and lost ground in the competition. Vaikona has kept improving as a technician while holding onto his size and strength, and that gives him the current advantage.
So the projected USC starting five stays the same as the post-spring group, with Raymond replacing O’Connor at center: Paige, Treter, Raymond, Noa, Vaikona.
Behind the starters, USC has some clear depth pieces and a few intriguing names to watch. Keenyi Pepe is the backup left tackle, and the belief here is that he should stay at tackle rather than move inside simply because Raymond slides to center. His long-term future is on the edge.
Breck Kolojay is the next guard up behind Treter and Noa. After him comes Kaylon Miller, who has added good weight and earned positive attention from the staff. Freshmen John Fafita and Esun Tafa are still more developmental at this point, with limited buzz so far on exactly where they stand.
Tauanuu remains a fascinating piece of the puzzle. He could keep battling Vaikona and Pepe at right tackle, or USC could decide to slide him inside at guard. Either way, he’s talented enough to keep competing for a starting job and, at minimum, profiles as valuable depth.
Two more names have made noise in camp: Vlad Dyakonov, who has turned heads, and Aaron Dunn, who has developed nicely and has drawn strong coaching praise for his projection and work ethic.
USC is still just a week into fall camp, so this depth chart isn’t set in stone. There’s time for the picture to shift before the Trojans get into the season.
In Other News...
USC Is Making A Serious Push For An Elite 2028 Pass Rusher
Major Stokes is only getting started in the 2028 recruiting cycle, but the four-star defensive end already has national programs paying close attention. USC is on the list of schools he plans to visit on game days, along with Ohio State, as he sorts through an early process that still has plenty of time to play out. For the Trojans, the appeal is clear: defensive end coach Shaun Nua has emerged as a significant part of why Stokes is looking seriously at the program.
Michigan is also very much in the mix, thanks to Stokes relationship with defensive line coach Lewis Powell, and the recruiting picture figures to stay fluid as he works through his junior year before making any commitment. For USC, that means the next stretch matters just as much as the visits themselves, because landing an elite pass rusher this early often comes down to keeping the right relationships warm while the rest of the field keeps pressing. [Read more 🡒]
Notre Dame And USC Still Carry A Rivalry Fans Refuse To Lose
When ESPN put together its list of power-conference college football archenemies, USCs entry was loaded with familiar names: Oregon, Northwestern, UCLA, Notre Dame and even the NCAA. That says plenty about the programs place in the sport, but it also captures how many different kinds of feuds the Trojans have carried through the years, from regional pride to national stakes to the fallout from off-field battles.
Among them, the Notre Dame series still has a weight all its own, the kind of rivalry that refuses to lose its edge no matter how college football changes around it. USCs history with UCLA remains a defining West Coast measuring stick, especially through the Pete Carroll era, while Oregon has become a more current on-field annoyance. And then there is the NCAA, a rival in a very different sense, one that left its own mark on the program and still lingers in the background of how USC is remembered. [Read more 🡒]
USC Suddenly Has A Troubling O Line Problem To Solve
USCs offensive line entered the offseason with some momentum after a solid 2025 under Zach Hanson, but the outlook took a sharp hit with the loss of expected starting center Kilian OConnor. The setback leaves a notable void in the middle of the line, where USC had been counting on OConnor to be a stabilizing presence as the unit tries to keep building on last seasons progress.
The timing makes the situation even more uncomfortable because the Trojans are heading toward a schedule that will demand answers quickly against strong defensive fronts. USC will have to sort through replacement options and settle the interior line before the pressure starts to rise, and the first real test of how ready that group is comes later in the month against Oregon. [Read more 🡒]