USC: Final Five

Yesterday marked weeks until National Signing Day, and also the Trojans' 15th verbal commitment for 2011 scholarships. USC used all 10 available scholarships carried over from the previous recruiting period. With that, there are 5 spots remaining in USC's recruiting class. (This assumes, of course, that all current verbal commitments stick to their word.)

That's it - 5 spots left. Of course there are guys out who we are still chasing and would love to get, but who have given verbals to other schools. For example there's Christian Westerman (Texas), Amir Carlisle (Stanford), and Brent Calloway (Bama). For these purposes, we'll exclude them. So who is still uncommitted and looking at USC?

• Cyrus Kouandjio, OL
  
• Cyrus Hobbi, OL
  
• Antonio Richardson, OL
  
• Erique Florence, DB
  
• Marqise Lee, ATH/DB
  
• Vei Moala, DT
  
• Christian Heyward, DT
  
• Lateek Townsend, OLB
  
• Brennan Scarlett, DE
  
• Junior Pomee, TE
  
• Colt Lyerla, OLB/DE
  
• Lamar Dawson, OLB
  
• Marcus Roberson, DB
  
• Troy Niklas, OL
  
• Harvey Langi, RB
  

Our futility in the linebacking corps has been well documented, and losses on the offensive line are glaring. Given that we have already loaded up on the defensive line for this class, here's my list of who I'd like to get out of that list:

1. Cyrus Kouandjio
   
2. Cyrus Hobbi
   
3. Marqise Lee
   
4. Colt Lyerla
   
5. Lamar Dawson
   

It was very hard to pick just 5 that I wanted out of this list, but that's all the room we have. The Cyruses are just too good to not grab up. We have a couple 3-star guys coming in who could be solid contributors down the line, but nobody line these two who can make instant impacts. Of course Cyrus K will likely end up at Bama where his brother is playing, but I can always dream. Cyrus H, however, we have a good shot at.

Marqise Lee is an incredibly athlete that I like more every time I see. He could be excellent at safety or cornerback - and if he grows I think he could be an excellent outside linebacker. He's also explosive on offense, but I think consensus is that he will play defense exclusively at the next level. There was talk that he would be a package deal with Jason Gibson, who has given a verbal to Oregon. This looks like it will turn into a Trojan-Duck battle; hopefully the package gets broken up.

Colt Lyerla is a big 6'5" prospect who could play DE/OLB. Right now he's slated as an OLB, but with more bulk could easily be a DE. The last two guys we had who were well versed at both positions were Clay Matthews, Jr. and Brian Cushing. I think Lyerla can be a similar player to them.

Lamar Dawson is an intriguing linebacking prospect from Pennsylvania. Along with the Cyruses, he would be a huge out-of-state get for USC. I slightly prefer him to Lateek Townsend. I think he could be a great anchor to our linebacking corps immediately.

With that said, here's the 5 who I think we'll actually end up with:

1. Cyrus Hobbi
   
2. Christian Heyward
   
3. Junior Pomee
   
4. Colt Lyerla
   
5. Troy Niklas
   

I think Hobbi's decision comes down to Bruins-Trojans ... and he makes the right call. I think Heyward picks between San Diego State and USC, but goes our way in the end thanks to Coach O. He could end up surprising some people with his power as a defensive tackle.

Pomee is an interesting prospect - he was recruited heavily by Florida at first, then UCLA. USC was one of the last to offer him, but he seems to be very interested as of late. Despite Will Muschamp and Charlie Weis signing up for UF next year, and UCLA's approaches, he will be another TE in a strong depth area for the Trojans. He's also athletic enough to play in the slot.

It's another Duck-Trojan battle for Lyerla, and I think he bites and leaves his home state for USC. Troy Niklas is a nice prospect from Servite High School. He started off playing TE for them, but this season played on the offensive line. I think he's versatile enough to play at both tackle and guard, and will be a rock for our o-line for quite a few years.

Guys that it hurts to admit we probably won't get are Vei Moala, Marqise Lee, and Lamar Dawson. Of course it hurts not to get Cyrus K but I don't think we had much of a shot to begin with.

Now that I've made these predictions, I'm sure none of them will come true. I am confident, however, that whoever we get in our 2011 class will be key players in getting USC back to the top where we belong.