SI99 LB Raesjon Davis Staying Home, Signs with USC Football

Local star linebacker picks USC over Ohio State, LSU and others

Don't look now, but USC is rolling on the recruiting trail. 

The program just wrapped up National Signing Day with a banner verbal commitment in Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei linebacker Raesjon Davis, a one-time LSU commitment who was also considering Ohio State and others down the stretch. 

A shaky year in LSU continues to be a driving force in the national recruiting scene. LSU finished the 2020 season with a 5-5 record just one year after feilding (what was then) the best collegiate offense ever. When one school so heavily impacts the recruitment of other big-ticket prospects, and that program begins to shutter, it forces nearly every other school to re-think their strategy. 

All of a sudden a staff might look at a prospect (like Raesjon Davis) who they had previously checked out on, as surprisingly attainable. Throw in a power vacuum in a linebacking room, and you've made a pretty compelling flip case to a competitive athlete that grew up just miles from your campus.

Raesjon Davis embodies the modern linebacker. He’s quick and athletic, yet stout in the box. As far as off-ball linebackers go, Davis is the next big thing out of the West Coast. The dynamic Southern California defender has experience rushing the passer off the edge, but he looks to us like an off-ball linebacker, especially when you see him move without pads. His final ranking in the SI99 was #49.

USC has a top 10 class on SI All-American and it may push for the No. 1 class in the Pac-12 with a close race between the Trojans and the Oregon Ducks coming to a close. This signing further cements a USC recruiting class that achieved one of the biggest improvements as far as year-over-year recruited tal.

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