Four-star OL T.J. Shanahan Puts USC in His Final Five
Whenever an elite offensive lineman includes USC among his final schools, it’s going to get attention from Trojan fans. That was the case this weekend, when four-star interior offensive lineman T.J. Shanahan put USC alongside Georgia, LSU, Texas and Texas A&M was his finslists.
The 6-foot-4, 325-pound Shanahan checks in as the No. 95 overall prospect in the 2023 On3 Consensus. He’s the No. 6 interior offensive lineman and No. 17 overall prospect in the state of Texas. That top-100 ranking is largely due to Rivals having him at No. 10 overall. But he’s a top-300 prospect in the 2023 On300 Rankings as well.
Texas A&M is the runaway leader for Shanahan in the RPM. He’s taken a number of unofficial visits there and took official visits in June to Georgia, LSU and Texas A&M. But he’s not entirely unfamiliar with USC. He took an unofficial visit to see the Trojans last summer. Though, obviously, it’s a far different program now under head coach Lincoln Riley. Whether Shanahan makes another trip to USC, either as an unofficial or official, would go a long way toward determining how realistic the chances are for the Trojans here. Shanahan began his high school career in Florida before moving to Texas prior to his junior season.
His father, Tim, played football at Arizona and his brother, Leka, played football at Utah. Shanahan is very familiar with the Southern California area, so distance isn’t a major hurdle. He talked to On3’s Hayes Fawcett about each of his five finalists.
“SoCal has always been a second home to me,” Shanahan said to Fawcett. “The offense that Coach Riley and Coach [Josh] Henson are running seems like a really good fit for me.”
USC Offensive Line Recruiting
USC holds commitment from two offensive linemen in the Trojans’ 2023 recruiting class.
Three-star tackle Tobias Raymond announced his commitment in June shortly after taking an official visit to USC. Three-star lineman Amos Talalele joined him in the class about a week later. USC got Talalele to take an official visit to USC despite his earlier commitment to Cal. The Trojans coaches did enough to flip his commitment and add the 6-foot-4, 330-pound prospect to the class.
But there have been some significant swings and misses up front of late. Five-star offensive tackle Francis Mauigoa is headed to Miami despite a massive push from USC. And four-star tackle Lucas Simmons is staying in Florida and heading to Florida State. He was another top target along the line for the Trojans.
Four-star tackles Spencer Fano and Caleb Lomu, as well as three-star interior linemen Micah Banuelos and Alani Noa remain top offensive line targets for USC.
