BREAKING: USC lands commitment from Oregon State LB Easton Mascarenas-Arnold
USC has landed another piece of their future defense as former Oregon State linebacker Easton Mascarenas-Arnold has announced his commitment to the Trojans.
Trojans are adding a proven, veteran defender in Mascarenas-Arnold. He was named to the First-Team All-Pac-12 conference team this season.
Mascarenas-Arnold comes to Los Angeles after spending three seasons in Corvallis. He was an immediate contributor for the Beavers, playing in 13 games as a true freshman in 2021. He will have one year of eligibility left.
He recorded 107 tackles for the Beaver defense in 2023 and has four career sacks and three career interceptions. He also added two sacks to the stat sheet. With his 107 tackles, he was second in the Pac-12 conference. Mascarenas-Arnold became just the fourth Beaver over the last 10 seasons to reach the century mark for tackles
According to Pro Football Focus, Mascarenas-Arnold had the best season grade of his career in 2023 with a 66.4 grade. However, he received a phenomenal 78.5 run defense grade, which was in the top 15% percentile of linebackers in college football.
Mascarenas-Arnold played high school football at Mission Viejo High in California, where he was a three-star recruit in the 2021 class, per the On3 Industry Rankings. He was also rated as the No. 485 overall player and the No. 48 linebacker in his cycle.
Replacing lost experience
Along with a new defensive coordinator in D’Anton Lynn and new linebacker’s coach Matt Entz, the Trojans were going to need add bodies and experience to the linebackers room.
USC will likely be returning starters Mason Cobb and Tackett Curtis as well as Eric Gentry. However, the Trojans are losing some contributors from the 2023 season. Shane Lee is out of eligibility and Chris Thompson Jr. elected to enter the transfer portal.
The two both provided playing time and depth for the Trojans. With this new addition, it is expected he will find himself on the field often, if not every snap this upcoming season for the Trojans.
USC in the transfer portal
Since the start of December, USC has added two commitments from the transfer portal, and that number is only expected to grow in the coming days and weeks.
Prior to the commitment of Mascarenas-Arnold, USC had reeled in two additions through the transfer portal.
Those commitments were from former Vanderbilt defensive lineman Nate Clifton and former Michigan State long snapper Hank Pepper.
