LOS ANGELES - At USC, the wide receiver room is being run with a simple standard that Dennis Simmons boiled down to a Janet Jackson line: “What have you done for me lately?”
That’s the reality inside a position group that remains wide open as the Trojans move through fall camp. Simmons said the message to the receivers is clear: nothing is guaranteed, and every rep matters.
“I’m sure they’re all familiar with who (Jackson) is now,” Simmons said, smiling. “They all understand.
You gotta earn your keep every week. And you’ve got to earn your keep every practice.
There’s nothing set in stone.”
Tanook Hines is the only returning starter at the spot, but even his status has added another layer to the competition. Lincoln Riley recently said Hines was dealing with a minor injury.
The true sophomore is still around practice, but he has been working inside the new Bloom Football Performance Center instead of taking part in on-field drills. Riley said he expects Hines to be ready for the season opener against San Jose State on Aug.
Even with Hines in the mix, the Trojans have plenty of candidates pushing for roles. The freshman group is especially loaded, with spring enrollees Trent Mosley, Kayden Dixon-Wyatt and Tron Baker already in the system, plus summer enrollee Ethan “Boobie” Feaster. Hines’ rise last season showed the staff is willing to trust youth if it’s ready.
Quarterback Jayden Maiava said the group has handled the playbook well and looks further along than its age might suggest.
“The entire group is just doing such a phenomenal job adjusting to the playbook,” Trojans quarterback Jayden Maiava told reporters. “You couldn’t really tell how young they are with how they’re doing so well with the playbook and everything that they’ve been doing.
Super special group. I’m excited to see it on Saturdays.”
The competition does not stop with the freshmen. Terrell Anderson, who was the top receiver at North Carolina State last season, is also fighting for a place in the rotation. Zacharyus Williams, a redshirt sophomore back from injury, is in the picture too.
“It’s for sure heavy competition,” Williams said. “But we all have the same common goal - competing and working toward that national championship.”
USC could also lean on its tight ends, which gives Maiava another layer of options. Mark Bowman, a 6-foot-4, 245-pound freshman, has a chance to contribute right away. Tight ends coach Chad Savage said Bowman is positioned well, but the real test is coming fast.
“He’s right where you want him,” Trojans tight ends coach Chad Savage said. “But now it’s, hey, we got San Jose State. Can you go out there and play college football at a high level and then do it at a consistent basis in the Big Ten?”
While the offense sorts out its personnel, USC is also building something new off the field. On Wednesday morning, rows of chairs were set up outside the Bloom Football Performance Center, with a sound crew testing music and microphones for the facility’s grand opening.
At the same time, another project was taking shape behind the scenes. The USC Viterbi School of Engineering is working with the football program to create an analytics database that will turn play-level data from FBS games into a searchable platform.
Bruce Wilcox, an associate professor of industrial and systems engineering practice, is leading a team of Viterbi students and recent alumni on the project. The database is designed to help Trojan football analysts spot trends across the sport and examine individual player performance in greater depth.
USC director of football analytics Conor McQuiston commissioned the project, which is expected to be completed by the end of the summer.
“So many different teams have tried so many different things that just having access to all this data lets us run natural experiments,” McQuiston said. “What has and hasn’t worked, and what can we learn from that?”
In Other News...
USC's Receiver Pipeline Is Being Tested Faster Than Trojans Fans Expected
USCs receiver room entered the season with a different look almost immediately after the 2026 NFL Draft, when Makai Lemon and JaKobi Lane were both taken off the board. Lemon went in the first round to the Philadelphia Eagles, while Lane landed with the Baltimore Ravens in the third, a quick reminder of how rapidly the Trojans have been able to turn pass catchers into pro prospects.
Now the focus shifts to who fills the space they left behind, and USC is looking at sophomore Tanook Hines to help do it. The Trojans have been building a reputation for producing receivers, but losing two draft picks at once tests that pipeline in a hurry, especially when the next group has to be ready sooner than expected. [Read more 🡒]
USC Freshman Buzz Is Building Around A Key Passing Game Role
A little preseason buzz is starting to build around freshman wide receiver Kayden Dixon-Wyatt, and it centers on a role that could matter quickly in USCs passing game. The Trojans already have established options in Terrell Anderson and Tanook Hines, but Dixon-Wyatt is drawing attention as a player who could step in behind them and give the offense another reliable target as the year unfolds.
The appeal is straightforward: USC is looking at what Dixon-Wyatt can bring, and the early read is that his skill set fits a chance to become the teams third receiving option. It is still projection, not a confirmed depth-chart move, but for a freshman to enter the conversation this early says plenty about how the Trojans view his potential and why his development is worth tracking. [Read more 🡒]
USCs Deep Linebacker Room Sets Up A Fall Camp Battle
USC heads into the 2026 season with one of its more intriguing position groups sitting in the middle of the defense, where depth and experience give the Trojans a chance to be more flexible than they have been in recent years. Desman Stephens II is back, Deven Bryant arrives as a transfer, and the group has enough proven pieces that coach Lincoln Riley and defensive coordinator Gary Patterson have both pointed to the linebackers as a key part of what this defense can become.
Mike Ekelers addition as the new linebackers coach only adds to the sense that this spot will be watched closely once fall camp opens. Pattersons system asks a lot from linebackers, and the coming weeks should sort out not just the pecking order, but how USC wants to deploy a deep room that could be used in a lot of different ways if the pieces fit the way the staff believes they can. [Read more 🡒]