USC Trojans Coach Lincoln Riley on Tight Ends' Offensive Impact: 'More Well-Rounded'

Tight end production has been very limited during USC Trojans coach Lincoln Riley's first few years on campus, but this year's group are on pace to far surpass previous seasons.

Sep 1, 2024; Paradise, Nevada, USA; Southern California Trojans tight end Lake McRee (87) against the LSU Tigers at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Tight end production has been very limited for the USC Trojans under coach Lincoln Riley’s first couple of seasons on campus. In 2022, the tight ends caught 17 total passes, in 2023 the number of receptions went up to 29, still nowhere near coach Riley wanted it to be.

This season, however, the production is on pace to far exceed previous years. Through two games, the tight ends have already caught 14 passes. 

Sep 1, 2024; Paradise, Nevada, USA; Southern California Trojans tight end Lake McRee (87) against the LSU Tigers at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

“Well, the guys are doing a good job, you know the players in there,” said Riley. “Coach (Zach) Hanson, I think has done a really good job of developing that room. It’s been super important for us to build that room up that wasn’t quite up to our standards in the early years, and it’s gotten better, and I think it will continue to get better. I still believe tight end is one of the biggest mismatches you can have in football when you have really good ones with the versatility they create.”

Tight end Lake McRee leads the team in receptions (nine) and receiving yards (137). McRee’s status for the season was unknown before fall camp because of an ACL injury suffered during practice in December. Miraculously, McRee not only returned to game-action eight months later, but his production has increased. 

Riley said, “Guys have some good things early on and it’s definitely helped us, makes us a little more well-rounded as an offense. With still having a handful of young guys in the room, I’m looking forward to seeing how that room grows and hopefully positively impacts us more and more here going forward.”

Against LSU, McRee reeled in a career-high five receptions for 56 yards, and against Utah State, he caught four passes for a career-high 81 yards. Not only has his emergence been evident in the pass game, but it has also been felt in the run game.

“Having Lake back fully healthy has been awesome,” said quarterback Miller Moss. “I have a lot of faith and trust in him, and I think he’s delivered in a way that I expected, and the offense expected him to.”

Sep 1, 2024; Paradise, Nevada, USA; Southern California Trojans running back Woody Marks (4) celebrates with tight end Lake McRee (87) after scoring on a 13-yard touchdown run with eight seconds left against the LSU Tigers at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Freshman tight end Walker Lyons, who spent last season on an LDS mission in Norway, made his debut against Utah State, catching three passes for 13 yards. Freshman Kade Eldridge has also been in the mix, reeling in two passes for 17 yards.

"It was super awesome being out there," Lyons said. "I'm super blessed to be able to play in a game especially against a good opponent like Utah State. But it felt so good to play. It had been so long with obviously a unique circumstance. It's been a couple of years. It felt good to get out there and obviously there's a lot to improve on. It was super cool being in the Coliseum wearing the cardinal and gold."

The tight end position was an important piece of Riley's offenses during his time at Oklahoma and the Trojans have found similar success so far this season.

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