USC football recruiting: Five-star OT Tristan Leigh names Trojans in favorites

Five-star offensive tackle Tristan Leigh announced his Top 15 with USC football included.

The good news? USC football is in the race to sign big-time offensive lineman Tristan Leigh out of Virginia.

The concerning news? The five-star offensive linemen, who just dropped a Top 15 list, has a lot of competition coming after him.

Leigh is still considering a wide variety of teams from USC to Georgia, Florida State, Virginia, LSU, Florida, Virginia Tech, Clemson, Miami, Penn State, Oklahoma, Maryland, UCF, Ohio State and Alabama.

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The experts over at 247Sports don’t have much of an inkling of where Leigh will ultimately land either. While Clemson holds the edge in Crystal Ball predictions, Virginia Tech, Penn State and “undecided” also hold votes.

Leigh has been a big riser in the national rankings. In February he was outside of the Top 100. Now he is the No. 13 player nationally, according to the 247Sports composite. He is the No. 3 offensive tackle available.

Pulling off a major upset by landing Leigh’s signature would be a huge development for USC. The Trojans sure could use some elite offensive lineman to restock their cupboard.

Three offensive linemen, including potential starter Liam Jimmons, will graduate after the 2020 season. Alijah Vera-Tucker is slated to be a high draft pick if he decides to forgo his final year of eligibility while Jalen McKenzie, Brett Neilon and Andrew Vorhees, all projected starters, will have an NFL decision to make as well.

In 2020, USC added six offensive line recruits, including five tackles, but most were under-the-radar prospects the Trojans hope will prove to be diamonds in the rough. Two 2021 commitments for the offensive line fit that mold as well, with Mason Murphy and Maximus Gibbs ranking highly among linemen in California, but not nationally.

The Trojans already lost out on a big fish regionally when Arizona four-star OT Bram Walden committed to Oregon on Friday.