NFL Scouts Leery of USC Players?
ProFootballTalk.com had a post on its rumor mill tonight about NFL Scouts getting a little leery of USC proscpects.
The concern is that too many of the players who emerge from the Trojan program love the SoCal lifestyle more than they love football.
Though it’s always dangerous to generalize (but what the hell, we’ll do it anyway), there have been a surprising number of busts to emerge from Pete Carroll’s no-pay (by the school) paradise.
In 2003, the Trojans sent a trio of solid players into the league: Carson Palmer, Troy Polamalu, and Justin Fargas. Since then, however, the only guy who has proven to be a consistent high-end talent is linebacker Lofa Tatupu. The growing parade of busts includes Keary Colbert, Shaun Cody, Mike Patterson, Mike Williams, Darnell Bing, Dominique Byrd, Frostee Rucker, Winston Justice, Reggie Bush (relative to his draft status and hype), and Dwayne Jarrett.
Should this be the case, it certianly is something that could be used against USC on the recruiting trail. Of course USC’s rebutal would be that those players were drafted high because they were coached up, but none the less, it is interesting to see people begin to question USC like this.
Note to any USC fans who happen to come across this – the “no-pay” reference is directly from PFT so don’t complain.
Frank Vitovitch has been Co-Owner and Editor in Chief of UHND.com since joining forces with Kyle Flavin in 1999. Since that time, he has written over 2,000 articles covering Notre Dame football, recruiting, and basketball. He also works with all staff and external writers on all articles published on UHND.com. Frank's love for Notre Dame football started at a young age watching Rocket Ismail give opposing coaches ulcers in the late 1980's. By day Frank works in marketing and holds a degree in Digital Media from Drexel University. Frank's work has been cited by online/print editions of NBC Sports, ESPN, and Sports Illustrated and has been quoted on air by ESPN's Collin Cowherd. He's conducted interviews with Notre Dame legends Rocket Ismail, Randy Kinder, Lee Becton, Reggie Brooks, Michael Stonebreaker, and Ned Bolcar among others over his 20+ years of covering Notre Dame football. He's also been published in the print edition of USA Today Sports Weekly and the USA Today College Football Preview multiple times. Other Published Works/Citations for Frank Three Reasons Notre Dame Will Beat Alabama - USA Today Notre Dame Suspends WR Kevin Stepherson, RB C.J. Holmes Indefinitely - Bleacher Report Notre Dame / Ohio State Fiesta Bowl Preview - Eleven Warriors Brace Yourself: The Fighting Irish are Relevant Again - Sports on Earth Interviews with the Enemy: A Q&A with Frank Vitovitch of UHND - Yahoo! Sports Five Good Minutes: Notre Dame Football Preview With UHND.com - BC Interruption Vicious Electronic Questioning with UHND - MGO Blog
Add Leinart to the list.
7 USC players taken in the first two rounds…. I’m pretty sure this was just talk
My point is they don’t reference a source. “There’s a growing sense in some league circles that incoming players from the University of Southern California merit extra scrutiny during the endless buildup to the draft.” What circles? What have they said? Reference something.
Gee, I hope Pro Scouts have that concern about ND players someday soon after 2 national titles and 60 wins in 5 years.
Listen, I deeply despise USC, but I am also a huge eagles fan. So how can you call mike patterson and winston justice a bust. You can’t expect Winston Justice to be a bust when Tra Thomas is your starter. Thomas is one of the best tackles in the league. And you can’t judge Justice by his play against the Giants because they even destroyed the veteran linemen on New England’s team. And Mike Patterson isn’t a bust. He led all Eagle’s defensive linemen in 2007 with 114 tackles. He returned a 98 yard fumble for a touchdown. And he had a solid 4 sacks for a defensive tackle last year. So I wouldn’t call those two a bust. You can call the other ones busts though. But how is Dwayne Jerratt a bust when he’s only been in the league for one year? These so called NFL “experts” need to go back to school.
Right, PFT is such garbage that during free agency every football show imaginable had them on TV. PFT used to be right very rarely, but over the past year or so, there sources have gotten pretty good and they are a pretty solid source.
Since when is Mike Patterson considered a bust? Low first round pick who has been steady but not spectacular, nothing wrong with that. The rest of them…….BUST!
Pro Football Talk is garbage, and this article is garbage without any direct quotes. I’m no USC fan, but putting up things like this on your front page is just lame.
We all know that USC pays their players to play there. Its not much of a transition to the NFL.
Just Ask Reggie