Jalen Lott's reasoning for joining Oregon could eventually lead to a USC flip

USC v Oregon
USC v Oregon | Brandon Sloter/GettyImages

Oregon has managed to secure the commitment of one of the last prospects that USC was still in the mix for late on during the recruitment process. Jalen Lott has decided to become a Duck. And that's reasonable enough with family past and present at the Trojans and Longhorns. Part of what Lott disclosed as his reason for this decision was the desire to carve his own path.

By all accounts, he is a tremendously talented player who does have true two-way potential.

His reasoning, however, could end up laying out the path as to why he eventually becomes a Trojan. This possibility could, of course, come before he ever steps foot in Eugene as a student-athlete or later on as a transfer.

Two of the main reasons Lott gave actually line up perfectly as to why Lott will be a great fit at USC.

For one, Lott expressed his desire to also run track. Oregon certainly has a lot of support there. The Trojans are only coming off two national championships this past school year, though. It is safe to assume that Director Quincy Watts would be able to find a way to include him on the roster.

The second and more football-related reason that Lott gave for his decision is his wanting to receive the ball in space. That, too, is fair enough from his perspective. When Lott gets the ball in his hands, it is incredibly rare for the first defender to even get a hand on him. Lott is an excellent receiver when it comes to yards after the catch.

Here, too, though, is something that screams USC and coach Lincoln Riley.

Possible push factor toward USC

For now, Lott stated the way in which coach Dan Lanning gained a foothold in his recruitment process fairly early on. That suggests that if the Trojans had implemented their current recruiting strategy that is being witnessed now sooner, they could have perhaps made it more of a difficult decision for Lott.

Not to worry, however. There is already something of a more recent trend of former Oregon commits flipping to USC than the other way around. Lott's fate as a Duck is far from sealed, especially if the Oregon QB situation ends up taking what would be a predictable step back without the likes of Dillon Gabriel or Bo Nix.