Is Toa Lobendahn the Next Max Tuerk, Plus More USC Football News

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1st & 10:

First Take… The comparison may heap undue pressure on a young and developing player, but Toa Lobendahn may just be the next Max Tuerk.

Think about it.

More from Reign of Troy

• Markese Stepp enters transfer portal intending to leave USC football
• USC football’s Alijah Vera-Tucker declares for NFL Draft
• USC football adds Xavion Alford as transfer from Texas
• USC Podcast: RoT Radio Ep. 396 on the Football Season’s Fallout
• Talanoa Hufanga named Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year, USC football with five first-teamers

Tuerk came in and started at left tackle at the tail end of his true freshman season.

Lobendahn did the same, when Chad Wheeler went down injured in 2014.

Tuerk switched to left guard as a sophomore, where he started 13 games.

Lobendahn started eight games at left guard in his first season.

Tuerk shifted positions once again as a junior, proving his versatility by starting all 13 games for USC at center last year.

Lobendahn has never played center for USC, but he very well could. More importantly, conventional wisdom says he would thrive at the position too.

Versatility has been Tuerk’s greatest asset as a Trojan and Lobendahn has shown a similar ability to shift wherever he is needed, whenever he is needed.

At spring practice Thursday, Lobendahn took snaps at center with the second team. While he will likely remain at left tackle until Wheeler returns from injury, it is an incredible luxury to have two players with as much flexibility as Tuerk and Lobendahn.

And Ten Links…

1. The second day of spring practice was full of emerging storylines as JuJu Smith looks set to remain on offense and Adoree’ Jackson put in the first of an increasing number of days on offense. (Reign of Troy)
2. Lamar Dawson looks no worse for wear in spring practice after returning from a lengthy knee injury. Gary Klein looked at how Dawson revels in turning heads. (LA Times)
3. Bryce Dixon’s absence puts USC in a tight spot, as Michael Lev lays out after spring practice number two. (OC Register)
4. Justin Wilcox doesn’t want to talk about lack of depth when it comes to USC’s struggles on defense in 2014, but he admit to Ted Miller that he needs to do a better job substituting earlier in games. (ESPN)
5. Walk-on running back James Toland has a motto: “Outwork everyone else.” He believes that that motto will carry him into USC’s rotation in 2015. (Scout)
6. There are a ton of questions swirling around USC this offseason. Ted Miller asks three pertinent ones about replacing Leonard Williams, Nelson Agholor and Buck Allen. (ESPN)
7. Adoree’ Jackson’s teammates call him a “traitor” because he switches sides so easily, according to Rahshaun Haylock’s latest piece on the three-way star who is also trying to be a two-sport phenom. (Fox Sports)
8. Leonard Williams may have just put a target on his back–err hair– after saying on Fox Sports 1 that he’ll deal with any rookie hazing, so long as it doesn’t interfere with his trademark mane. (LA Times)
9. Williams also told Fox Sports that he should be the top pick in the draft, for what its worth. (Fox Sports)
10. Troy Polamalu’s parting with the Pittsburgh Steelers is the end of an era. (Scout)

Stat of the Day:

Toa Lobendahn and Damien Mama were just the second pair of USC true freshman to start on the offensive line since World War II.

Tweets of the Day: