Roster breakdown

USC built this roster almost entirely through high school recruiting — zero transfers against Maryland's 26 (25%) — leaning hard on a California pipeline that accounts for 49 of 103 players, with six Texans and a smattering of other P4 footprint states filling the rest. The talent stock is legitimately elite: 62% blue-chip on 73 matched players at a 3.64-star average dwarfs Maryland's 16% / 3.18-star, though that investment skews young — 31% upperclassmen vs. Maryland's 40%, and an average of 1.54 years of experience vs. our 1.79. The offense is structurally intact heading into 2025 (96% pass, 78% rush production returning), and at 322 lbs the OL outweighs ours by 11 lbs, but only 16% of the roster exits after this season so the youth problem compounds rather than clears. One DMV hook: Romero Ison (WR) is the lone local, so there's minimal regional familiarity to exploit in recruiting or optics.