USC’s 2026 roster countdown has reached a spot that says plenty about where Desman Stephens II stands in the program now. He’s not just another young defender getting his feet wet anymore. After handling one of the most demanding jobs on the field last season, the linebacker is up to No. 4 on the Trojans’ list of most important players for 2026.
Stephens, a 6-foot-3, 240-pound Michigan native from Clarkston, was one of the clearest examples of USC leaning on youth out of necessity and hoping the experience would pay off later. That bet looked shaky at times in 2025, but the expectation is that the lessons from those snaps now turn into something far more dependable.
Last season, Stephens played in all 13 games and logged 685 defensive snaps, the most of any Trojan defender. He was one of five USC players on that side of the ball to top 600 snaps. He also finished with a team-high 89 tackles, added three tackles for loss, forced a fumble and recorded a quarterback hurry.
His stat line included 10-tackle outings against Notre Dame and Nebraska, but the game that really stood out came on the road at No. 5 Oregon.
Stephens piled up a career-high 17 tackles in Eugene during a difficult USC loss. A crucial special teams penalty that led to a Duck touchdown took some shine off the performance, but it still marked a real step forward for him as a defender.
The numbers also showed where the growing pains were. Pro Football Focus gave Stephens an overall grade of 64.6, while his run-defense grade came in at 52.7.
That part of the job matters a lot at MIKE, where the linebacker has to sort things out between the tackles and keep the defense on schedule. His struggles were especially visible in USC’s 34-24 loss to Notre Dame.
Even so, there’s real reason for USC to believe the next version of Stephens looks different. New linebackers coach Mike Ekeler has been pushing for what he calls “real live dudes,” and Stephens said the spring work with Ekeler and defensive coordinator Gary Patterson helped him sharpen his eye discipline and fundamentals.
“Coach Patterson, it's kind of a mix of a bunch of things," Stephens said. "Coach Patterson, constant drill work with coach Ekeler coming in as well, just nailing down the basics.
That's been great for us. So I feel like all that has helped our eye discipline and technique.
Coach Ekeler, he's one of the best teachers I've been around. The way he explains things and gets a big group of people, or a small group of people, to understand things very quickly.
It's very effective in how he communicates to us. So it's been great working with him."
Stephens also pointed to the details as the biggest lesson from his first year in a frontline role.
"Biggest thing, I would say, it's all about the details," Stephens said. "Those many details, you don't win football really on big plays and stuff.
It's all in the margins of the little hidden yards and the small things. So those things definitely add up.
So just detailing your work and making sure all your fundamentals and basics and rules are on point that gives you the best shot to go dominate."
That combination of workload, production and room for growth is why Stephens lands so high on the list. USC has been searching for a linebacker who can rise to the level of the program’s best at the position, and the Trojans haven’t had an all-conference linebacker since Cameron Smith in 2017. Stephens is being counted on to close that gap.
The other reason he ranks this high is simple: USC doesn’t have an obvious replacement if he goes down. Deven Bryant is in the mix, and Jadyn Walker played the same WILL spot alongside Stephens last season, but Bryant’s best work at Washington came at WILL, not MIKE. Ekeler said after spring that there is some interchangeability among the linebacker spots, but losing the player who handled 685 snaps at such a critical position would be a major problem, especially early in the season.
For context, last year’s No. 4 on this list was quarterback Jayden Maiava. He was always going to rank near the top because of the position he plays, and he also had proven help around him from players like Makai Lemon and Ja’Kobi Lane. Maiava’s role remains central in 2026, now with added weight as a team leader.
The rest of the top 30 continues with No. 5 defensive end Kameryn Crawford, No. 6 running back Waymond Jordan, No. 7 defensive lineman Jide Abasiri, No. 8 wide receiver Tanook Hines, No. 9 offensive lineman Tobias Raymond, No. 10 safety Christian Pierce, 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 and No. 30 wide receiver Trent Mosley.
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