USC football may steal yet another former Lincoln Riley weapon from Oklahoma

While Caleb Williams' announcement that he has entered the transfer portal has understandably dominated all CFB discussion in these past few days, there's another Oklahoma playmaker who may be on his way to the USC football program.

Oklahoma wide receiver Mario Williams hit the transfer portal on Tuesday, and the former four-star recruit (all recruiting rankings and ratings in this article are in reference to 247sports) is being speculated to follow his quarterback.

According to Oklahoma football writer for The Athletic, Jason Kersey, playing with Caleb Williams is very important to Mario:

"Will other Oklahoma players follow Williams? Obviously, there is a chance. Wide receivers Mario Williams and Jalil Farooq were explicit about wanting to play with Caleb Williams. Farooq and Caleb Williams were youth football teammates and both came from the Washington, D.C., area. There have also been rumblings about Marvin Mims, the Sooners’ leading receiver the past two seasons. Mims said before the Alamo Bowl that he wanted to be at OU in 2022 but didn’t explicitly confirm his return."

Jason Kersey, The Athletic

This is all crazy news for USC fans, as Kersey even reveals that there are more players that could be on their way to play with Caleb Williams other than just Mario Williams. Farooq and Mims aren't in the portal yet, so the focus will now be on Mario Williams. And with Caleb Williams being predicted by many to head to SC, the Mario Williams speculation is understandable.

If Caleb Williams transfers to the USC football program, do not be surprised at all if Mario Williams follows.

Mario Williams would be quite the addition to USC football. Not only was he a blue chip four-star recruit, but he was also the No. 4 receiver in the 2021 class as well as the No. 43 player in the nation.

A quick speedster, Mario is a little bit on the shorter side at 5'9," but he's got a good build as he weighs over 185 pounds. He could be a force in the slot for SC, as he already has experience playing for Lincoln Riley at Oklahoma. And he was good for Riley, as in 11 games he caught 35 balls for 380 yards and four touchdowns as just a true freshman in 2021.

His big-play potential was fully realized with Caleb Williams as the trigger man, as he went from averaging 8.9 yards per reception in the five games he played before Williams took over in the Red River game to 13.5 after OU made the switch. The fans are loving this possibility of Mario heading to SC.

After all, USC has been swiping playmakers from Oklahoma ever since Riley took the SC job. Five-star 2022 RB Raleek Brown decommitted from OU and committed to the Trojans, and so did 2023 five-star WR Makai Lemon and 2023 five-star QB Malachi Nelson. All three of those recruits are ranked in the top two at their respective positions for their respective classes.

Riley knows how to use Williams effectively, and needs to do everything he can to land the coveted WR/return man, who was ranked as the No. 8 transfer in the portal by The Athletic's Max Olson.