Starting USC Football player at position of need hits transfer portal

Starting USC Football Linebacker Ralen Goforth has entered the transfer portal. Goforth was one of the two primary Will Linebackers on the Trojans--he and Shane Lee. Goforth saw significant playing time with the Trojans this year, due to how thin SC was at the linebacker position. He saw significant time with the Trojans last year too, where he actually had a better year than this year.

In 2021; Goforth had 60 tackles, one tackle for loss, a fumble recovery, and a forced fumble. In 2022; Goforth had 43 tackles (none for loss), one fumble recovery, and no forced fumbles. He did have a pick-six, but he overall had a lesser year than what he had in 2021. The regression was there, and especially because his best year was neither 2021 or 2022.

His best year was in 2020; where he posted 38 tackles and three tackles for loss despite the season only being six games long due to the coronavirus pandemic. And sure; he didn't have a pick-six, a fumble recovery, or a forced fumble that year, but he had two PD's. He had none in these last two years. So really, Goforth has been regressing in not just this year, but in the last two years.

It's safe to say that Goforth's best chance at developing is not at USC, and it's also safe to say that USC's best chance at finding high-impact linebacker play is not with Goforth. This is especially the case considering that Goforth was never considered an elite talent in the first place. Goforth came to USC as a three-star recruit (all recruiting ratings and rankings in this article are as of 247Sports).

Ralen Goforth came to USC Football as the No. 22 Outside Linebacker in the country for the 2019 recruiting class.

And when the former three-star recruit for USC Football--Ralen Goforth--gets re-rated by 247Sports, he's likely to stay at three stars too. His production on the field (outside 2020) hasn't been good enough to raise his star rating as he enters the portal. Look--SC lacks depth at linebacker already, and now they are down yet another body.

But unfortunately, regardless of if Goforth stayed or not, SC would be on to the transfer portal to try to improve the backers. There are other players that will be hitting the portal who are like Goforth in that they have not had a ton of on-field success, but unlike Goforth in that they are at least big-time talents.

SC will likely pick up at least one, which would be an upgrade over Goforth. USC fans should root for Goforth to have success at whatever program he goes to, but it just doesn't look like USC would be a good match for either side.