New "Inside the Trojans' Huddle" (Tues./May 2) edition: Transfer portal windows analysis, NFL draft review, SC recruiting strategies, official 2024 CFP brackets and dates, and viewers' questions and panel answers

In Tuesday’s edition of “Inside the Trojans’ Huddle”, panelists Marc Kulkin, Chris Arledge, Erik McKinney, and Greg Katz analyze the combined two cycles of this season’s two transfer portal windows, USC’s high school and portal recruiting strategies, new 2024 CFP 12-team format info, reviewing the NFL draft and free agent Trojans, and viewers’ questions and panel answers. 

The first half of the Huddle takes a look at this year’s two transfer portal cycles and their overall effect. Did it live up to the expectations in filling needs? Who was missed in the competition with competitors? The panel gives their take on who in other programs they expected to enter the portal but didn’t, which may have altered USC’s pecking order. What grades did the panel give, and were there any negatives to the two recruiting cycles?

Also in the first half, the panel takes a look at Lincoln Riley’s various recruiting strategies. The panel gives their opinion on what specific strategies for out-of-state players and in-state players they find most impressive. Were there some surprises?  

Halftime delves into the officially released College Football Playoffs expansion to 12 teams and how the bracketing and dates will look. In the opening round, the higher seeds in the brackets will host home games. How will it all effect the interest in college football? What teams will draw a bye in the first round and where do they go from there? The panel gives its thought on the various nuances of the newly released format. Of all the new format directives, which part of the playoffs seems to have drawn raves from the panel? 

The second half of the Huddle focuses on last week’s NFL and those drafted and signed free agent Trojans. The panel is asked what excited them about the Trojans in the draft, the disappointments, and any surprises during the three-day extravaganza. There is a lot of discussion regarding a player that showed a lot of courage during the NFL combine when misfortune showed up.

The panel goes over which drafted Trojans they think will have a long NFL career and which Trojans that were signed as free agents might beat the odds and will make a team for the NFL’s 2023 opening day. There is unanimous agreement with a specific player. Care to guess who the panel thinks will make a team for opening day?

In what could be a controversial question, the panel is asked to name a former high drafted Trojans, who didn’t live up to the high pick and did not have a successful NFL career. Was there a unanimous answer? This was a really hot and heated discussion in which there was an abundance of panel animosity regarding the question itself. Two of the panelists gave direct and honest answers, and two panelists didn’t like the question’s negativity and tried to avoid answering the question.

In Overtime, the panelists answer some viewers’ questions which include topics such as the transfer portal rules following the final window of opportunity, a question on where most recruiting analysts get most of their information, the emergence of the Inland Empire as a valuable recruiting region, and the relationship between the Trojans and Bellflower (Calif.) St. John Bosco. There is really insightful discussion on the relationship between the Trojans and St. John Bosco.