Greg McElroy identifies USC's biggest needs in transfer portal

ESPN’s Greg McElroy believes the USC Trojans would benefit from acquiring talent at the wide receiver position this offseason from the transfer portal. After all, Jayden Maiava is set to become the full-time starting quarterback for USC this season. He’s going to need more than a weapon or two.

The Trojans were able to nab Zacharyus Williams from Utah last month, and Prince Stachan joined the team during the winter window. However, neither have eye-popping numbers as they join the program.

“Now, I love the top two wide receivers that the Trojans will have in their arsenal next year, Makai Lemon and Ja’Kobi Lane are going to be awesome,” McElroy said during his show, ‘Always College Football‘. “Those two guys are going into their third year. They’ve caught a lot of passes. They’ve been super efficient. They’ve been super effective. But having that number three would be huge for the for Jayden Maiava and this passing attack. The top two, I feel good about those. But if I could add one more, that would be significant.”

Lemon and Lane were the two top pass-catchers on the Trojans’ roster last season. That means the Trojans retain 1,289 yards and 15 touchdowns worth of production from last season. Lemon was the leading receiver by over 200 yards, while Lane was responsible for 12 of those touchdown receptions. Lane scored six of those touchdowns during the final two games of the season against Notre Dame in the regular season finale and Texas A&M in the Las Vegas Bowl.

After that, however, there isn’t a ton of veteran production to be found at the position. The transfer portal could fix that. But while USC still has some depth to fill out wide, McElroy believes the Trojans linebacker room needs even more depth that the receiving corps.

“That’s probably the thinnest position group on the entire team,” McElroy said of the linebacker position in LA. “They have good starters. Eric Gentry is a redshirt senior. He’s played a lot of football. Desman Stephens has been around for a while, but at linebacker, especially, the likelihood of being able to go the entire season without one, or both getting banged up is concerning. So, probably going to have some attrition at that position.”

USC lost both of its starting linebackers to graduation and the 2025 NFL Draft in Easton Mascarenas-Arnold and Mason Cobb. However, while Gentry and Stephens are expected to slide into their spots with relative ease, no other linebacker on the Trojans roster who is returning had more than five total tackles to their credit last season. There is potential for a breakout season by one of the younger talents, but looking to the transfer portal for additional help at the position isn’t a bad idea, according to McElroy.