Lincoln Riley talks offensive line, quarterbacks, and more after practice five

USC is now a week into fall camp and the coaching staff is starting to get an idea of where the Trojans are and what still needs to be improved upon. Naturally, fans are hungry for any morsel of information that they can get as we wait for the first game to arrive.

Following Wednesday's practice, the fifth of fall camp, head coach Lincoln Riley met with the media to provide an update on his team's progress. Let's take a look at what he had to say.

Can freshman DT Carlon Jones make an immediate impact?

The first question Riley fielded concerned whether or not true freshman defensive tackle Carlon Jones can help right away. Riley indicated that Jones and the other young defensive linemen could earn playing time this year.

“It's definitely realistic you know,” Riley said.  “I mean I think he's not a guy obviously that was here early but that's not definitely not a prerequisite.  It helps but there's certainly plenty of examples of guys that come in and are able to contribute and I think all of our young defensive linemen coming in…I know we've talked about it at length but this this massive change in terms of how we play, the body types [and] styles, all that, it's not like we've been recruiting or building to that necessarily for you know a bunch of years stacked up.

Jones is already 6-foot-2 and 310 pounds. That's the type of size USC will need to have on the field against bigger, run-heavy Big Ten teams.

“So yeah I think him coming in," Riley continued, "you know all of our young guys are going to have a chance to contribute now you know.  With that being said our returners, our guys that were here in the spring made some massive gains both again the strength and body types and knowledge of the system.  So they got to come in and prove you know that you want to invest like that in them early. 

"But Carlon is talented.  He's a big guy.  He's learning fast.  I mean going from high school to getting coached at the level he's getting coached here right now is a is a big difference.  But he's progressing and you can certainly see some of the talent with him and our other younger defensive linemen.”

Kobe Pepe continues to improve

On the other end of the spectrum is senior defensive lineman Kobe Pepe who has not quite lived up to his potential thus far. In fact, he's made only seven total tackles in three seasons at USC. Still, Riley seemed optimistic about how Pepe could fit into the Trojans' new defensive scheme.

“Done great,” Riley said. “He and I were actually talking last night from you know when we got here in the beginning I didn't know if he was going to make it I mean to be honest I just didn't know if he was going to be the ones that were here that were going to survive or that were going to kind of just float away and he's done a great job man. I mean he was he was easily the most out of shape player on this roster, some of it his doing, some of it the injuries he faced before we got here.

“But I mean he's just totally changed his body and he has he's put himself in position where he can contribute and certainly this system defensively fits a guy like him a lot more than what we were doing in the past.  So I think he realizes that you know, and it seems that of opportunity and he's got some real size and mass in there that certainly you feel like he's going to have the opportunity to have a role but yeah I’m proud of him you know.  From the guys that were here when we first started, which is not many now left, it's starting to be fewer and fewer, he's one of the ones that I’m most proud of from where he was a couple of years ago to now.”

Right guard remains a big position battle

Of course, the offensive line is going to be a critical position group every season. This year, Riley seems to be looking specifically at the right guard spot where a camp battle is brewing.

“That's one of the biggest position battles right now, no question,” Riley said. “I mean we're trying to look at a lot of guys so we're going to look at Amos [Talalele], we're going to look at Alani [Noa], we're going to look at Gino [Quinones] there. Micah Banuelos is really starting to make a move right now. He's healthy for the first time in a while.  I mean it came in with an injury and we were able to practice him some last year but we knew eventually we were gonna have to get it fixed and so we pulled the plug on that towards the end of last season so that he would be ready.  And it’s been fun to see him dive in as well so I think he's certainly got a chance to factor in.”

The quarterback battle continues

It wouldn't be a proper press conference unless Riley was asked about the quarterback position. Wednesday, he was specifically asked about the progress that Jaden Maiava, the transfer QB from UNLV, has made thus far. In response, Riley gave a bit of an update on the battle for the starting job at the game's most important position.

“Jayden has done well, Riley said.  “He's much improved which yeah we expect him to be. Much improved in just some of the simple pieces of communication and operating our system which that takes all quarterbacks a little bit of time to get used to.

“So I think he mentally is in a in a much better place executing at a high level and yeah much improved.  I think [the quarterbacks] are handling the reps well.  We're rotating them. They're playing with different groups, we’re putting them in different situations.  Both have done a really good job so far and certainly going to be a fun competition to watch unfold.”