USC Football: Top Transfer Portal Edge Rusher Schedules Official Visit This Weekend

Hayes Fawcett of On3 reported Thursday that Dayon Hayes, a 4-star edge rusher formally at Pitt will visit with USC Football this weekend.

The 2024 fifth-year senior had 45 tackles, and 10.5 tackles for loss, including four sacks as well as four passes defended and a forced fumble in 12 games. Hayes was sixth in the ACC with 44 quarterback pressures.

As of now the only other school, the 6’3″ 250 lbs edge rusher has shown interest in is Colorado.

NEWS: Former Pitt EDGE Dayon Hayes has locked in 2️⃣ visits, he tells @on3sports

-USC: April 19-21
-Colorado: April 21-22

Is the Top Available EDGE in the Transfer Portal (per On3)

Totaled 81 Tackles, 27 TFL, 13 Sacks, & 3 FFs in his career thus far https://t.co/U7GV5kHGiD pic.twitter.com/MqQJNGckyy

— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) April 18, 2024

Hayes Fit Within USC Football

With Solomon Byrd off to the NFL, the USC Trojans lost their top edge pressure maker. Jamil Muhammad will be back, but getting to the quarterback is the fastest way to improve the defense. Fielding a quality defense is job one for the entire program. D’Anton Lynn turned the UCLA Bruins defense around by doing just that. From the Bruins edge rushers alone, quarterback pressure increased by 20 percent from 2022 to 2023.