USC Football DC goes in-depth on why Korey Foreman didn't play vs. OSU

USC Football Defensive Coordinator Alex Grinch was asked about why former No. 2 overall player in the nation for the 2021 recruiting class (all recruiting rankings and ratings in article are as of 247Sports), Korey Foreman, didn't play against Oregon State. His answer? One word: "Practice." When Ryan Kartje of the LA Times followed up on that, though, Grinch opened up:

One can look at this in two different ways. Of course, it appears that Foreman isn't bringing it as much in practice from a performance standpoint and effort standpoint, compared to the other players who are playing instead of him. On the other hand, given this information, there's still a clear path to playing time for Foreman, who was the No. 12 recruit in 247Sports history.

Talent will never be his issue. If he can bear down and bring the type of effort and energy expected of him, his performance in practice will undoubtedly lead to him receiving significant playing time because his abilities and athleticism are off the charts. And, Grinch did say that "this week is a new week, and we'll make decisions on Thursday in terms of rotations."

Therefore, he's clearly not holding on to past practice performances instead of looking at the present and how Foreman responds to the adversity he faced last week. If Foreman cleaned it up in practice this week, he may hear his number called quite a bit on Saturday against Arizona State.

USC Football Rush End Korey Foreman has not impressed even when he's been out there this year.

Korey Foreman has only contributed five tackles in the three games he's played for USC football. He hasn't recorded any sacks or tackles for loss in general this year. While some of his advanced analytics looked good from the first two games, there wasn't a lot of optimism coming out of the third game and he of course didn't play Week 4.

Foreman didn't play much last year, either, which did raise eyebrows but he was just a true freshman. It wasn't out of the ordinary to see him needing some time to get his feet under him and get ready. The reason why this season for Foreman feels worrisome is because he was arguably better in the games he played last year than the ones he's played in this year.

Last year, he had 2.5 sacks and 3.5 tackles for loss in eight games. Again, though, Foreman has shown flashes when he's been out there this year, and his advanced analytics have backed that. He hasn't put it all together for a dominant performance, but his talent is undoubtedly still intact. It's early in his career, and nobody can decide he's a bust at this point.

If he wants to ensure that outcome to never come to be, though, he'll need to pick up his performance in practice right now and throughout the rest of the season. All it takes is for him to pick up momentum at practice, get his playing time, grow confidence, and sustained success should follow with the talent level that the former five-star has.