The 2021 Fred Biletnikoff Award Winner Jordan Addison has just touched down at SC. Trojans everywhere should be ecstatic.
Biletnikoff Award Recipient
In Addison, USC head coach Lincoln Riley has the best wide receiver in college football at his disposal. Addison is the 2021 Fred Biletnikoff Award winner, an award given to the most outstanding receiver. His 17 touchdowns were the best in the nation. His 100 receptions were sixth-best in the nation, while his 1,593 yards were fourth-best. Addison displayed the ability to create after the catch time and time again. An incredibly elusive player with more power than his 175 cm frame would indicate.
Addison was wide open a lot. Emphasis on wide open, a phenomenon which can’t go unnoticed. So much so, that it became a point of contention. The tape eventually revealed that he could, in fact, work his way back to the ball. He can make a contested catch, use his body to shield off defenders, and has elite hands.
Alabama < USC
Has anyone seen Alabama head coach Nick Saban lately? Saban is absolutely losing his mind. He wanted Addison so badly that when he didn’t get him, he started a feud with Jimbo Fisher. That’s the kind of player that the Trojans just got. A player who is highly coveted by the best of the best. Addison made the best business decision of his life by entering the transfer portal after having lost his quarterback. As a sophomore, Addison was that guy. In the slot primarily, but deployed in a multitude of ways. On screens, deep crosses, go’s, and an occasional jet sweep. A gift from University of Pittsburgh head coach Pat Narduzzi.
The SC passing attack, on paper, is magnificent, but a dominant weapon in the slot is exactly what Riley’s offense needed. Quarterback Caleb Williams now has the best wide receiver in college in Addison, a fellow transferring teammate from Oklahoma in Mario Williams, and an assortment of receivers to choose from. Riley has accumulated the single greatest incoming transfer portal class in the history of the transfer portal. It might not be that long of a history, but until it isn’t, it’s the greatest. The N.I.L. has changed the scope of college football recruiting now and forever.
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“It ain’t no fun when the rabbit gets the gun,” coach Saban. Alabama’s run at dominance is coming to an end. Parity, as he knows it, is over, because his boosters can’t compete with the SC’s, Miami’s, or A&M’s of the NCAA. His biggest recruiting advantage has been relegated to program prestige.
What Does It Mean?
As Riley continues his offseason calendar of preparing the roster for kickoff in August, a couple of things are obvious. He expects his team will be in a lot of shootouts. The back end of the defense looked more than a little shaky in the spring game. The running game is of the chain-moving variety, with a bunch of three-yarders and a cloud of dust-type running backs. Throwing the ball is going to have to be the bread and butter of SC’s offense. Adding Addison gives Riley another superstar besides his quarterback.