Coach Lincoln Riley said Tuesday he thought USC’s haul of defensive transfers this offseason was more talented than the group brought in last year, and that point get another punctuation mark Wednesday as Texas A&M defensive end Anthony Lucas announced his Trojans transfer.
Lucas was the No. 9-ranked strongside defensive end and No. 57 overall national prospect in the 2022 recruiting class out of Scottsdale, Ariz., choosing Texas A&M at the time over a long list of suitors that included USC.
The 6-foot-7, 270-pound pass rusher played a limited role in seven games as a true freshman for the Aggies, logging 143 defensive snaps, per PFF.
At USC, he joins a rebuilt defensive front that has been the emphasis of the Trojans’ offseason roster additions.
He joins veteran Purdue starting defensive end Jack Sullivan and Arizona starting defensive tackle Kyon Barrs on the defensive line, along with Georgia State OLB Jamil Muhammad and incoming top-100 freshman Brylan Shelby at the rush end position. USC will also get back Romello Height, the Auburn transfer who missed most of his debut season with the Trojans due to a shoulder injury, at that rush end spot. Together, that group will try to make up for the loss of All-American defensive end Tuli Tuipulotu, who led all FBS players with 13.5 sacks this past season.
And then at linebacker, USC has brought in Oklahoma State starter Mason Cobb and top-100 freshman Tackett Curtis while returning starters Eric Gentry and Shane Lee.
“The reality was this season we had one guy that consistently won, that had a decent shot to consistently win pass rush, and the reality was if he didn’t get there our chances weren’t super high. We’ve got to get better across the board there,” Riley said Tuesday. “Again, that’s making and developing the guys on your roster to be better, that’s bringing in the type of talent that we expect to have across the board on that front seven. You can’t fake that front seven — you can’t do it. You can run any scheme in the world that you want, you can do whatever you can, but you cannot fake having great talent and obviously developing the talent in house there. That’s an obvious spot that we’ve got to get better defensively.”
The Trojans inarguably have so far this offseason.
Lucas notched 64 tackles, 22 tackles for loss and 9.5 sacks during his senior season at Chaparral HS.
Overall, Lucas is the Trojans’ 11th transfer addition for so far, joining the list with punter Eddie Czaplicki (Arizona State), Muhammad (Georgia State), defensive tackle Kyon Barrs (Arizona), wide receiver Dorian Singer (Arizona), cornerback Christian Roland-Wallace (Arizona) and inside linebacker Mason Cobb (Oklahoma State), offensive tackle Michael Tarquin (Florida), running back MarShawn Lloyd (South Carolina), defensive end Jack Sullivan (Purdue) and offensive lineman Jarrett Kingston (Washington State).