Lincoln Riley names several standouts ahead of Saturday's USC Spring Game
USC head coach Lincoln Riley is taking his Trojans through the final week of spring ball, with the spring game set for Saturday afternoon in the Coliseum. Following Tuesday’s practice, Riley was asked which Trojans had impressed the most through 13 spring ball practices.
As usual, Riley hesitated to jump into naming names. He typically either tries to say there is still more to prove for everybody or will spread praise out over just about every position group. Riley did say “there’s been a lot of guys.” But he did come up with two specific names (before including a number of other players).
Riley started with safety Kamari Ramsey, who came over to USC from UCLA this offseason.
“We got to obviously see him last year but he’s done a great job just coming in here, I feel like really affected the group,” Riley said. “He’s a really good player. He obviously knows this scheme very well. Just having another guy out there that kind of knows it and has played in it, and you can use as a great example of how a lot of this stuff needs to look. I think he’s had a really strong spring.”
Riley stayed in the defensive back room for his second selection: cornerback Jacobe Covington. He said the cornerback has surged of late. That’s a position that added two key veterans via transfer this offseason but it feels like Covington will be able to hold his own in competing for playing time.
But Riley didn’t stop there as he tossed in pretty much everybody in the defensive front seven. He said the linebacker room has “really taken to coach Entz” and grown this spring as he sees improvement from that position.
He spoke about the improving defensive line as well.
“I’ve talked a lot about the defensive line,” Riley said. “There’s a lot of growth there and there needed to be. Everything there is very, very different.
