USC football represented incredibly on major outlet's Top 10 returning players list

On3 recently dropped their Top 10 returning players for the 2022 season, and it had two USC football players who have a history together in Caleb Williams and Jordan Addison. Both hail from the DMV (Washington D.C.-Maryland-Virginia) area and had a prior relationship before reuniting at USC.

Williams slotted into the list at No. 4 and Addison placed at the No. 9 spot. The only three players ahead of Williams were Ohio State Quarterback C.J. Stroud (third), Alabama Quarterback Bryce Young (second), and Alabama Edge Will Anderson Jr. (first). All four were given a "99 rating."

Of course, Stroud and Young likely should be ahead of him, as they were Heisman Trophy finalists who made the trip to New York last year. And as for Anderson, he certainly has his case as well--accumulating 101 tackles last season and 31 of them being for losses. He recorded 17.5 sacks and three PD's in 2021.

Unlike Caleb Williams, however, new USC Football Wideout Jordan Addison did not have a "99 rating" for some reason.

USC Football QB Caleb Williams rightfully had that "99 rating" on the list, but Jordan Addison had a "98" which makes no sense. He won the Biletnikoff in 2021, and enters this year as the best wide receiver in college football. While everybody always has room to improve, Addison doesn't have a whole lot of it.

Therefore, wouldn't a "99," just one spot below 100 be the most accurate? Regardless, each of the last three players on the list received 98's. No. 5 on the list was Ohio State WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who received a 99, which makes no sense. How is Addison, who beat out Smith-Njigba last year for the Biletnikoff, somehow worse than him?

Smith-Njigba had five less catches than Addison and eight less receiving touchdowns than Addison's 100 receptions and 17 receiving touchdowns. It's very perplexing as to how Addison could be ranked lower.

No. 6 on the list (Georgia DT Jalen Carter), No. 7 on the list (Georgia TE Brock Bowers), and No. 8 on the list (Northwestern OT Peter Skoronski) all have their cases, but Addison has already proven to be better than Smith-Njigba and has the hardware to prove it.

Still, however, it's just one spot that they've botched. The list overall definitely does represent this program in a very positive way. The two of these players contributed to USC turning in the No. 1 transfer class in the entire nation, and securing that by quite the landslide over Ole Miss, who had the second-rated transfer class.