USC Trojans: 5 Players to Watch in 2026
By Owain Jones
For all of USC’s offensive fireworks in recent years, one question has continued to follow the Trojans: Can they build a complete football team?
The answer is that the pieces certainly appear to have fallen into place better entering 2026. Lincoln Riley returns one of the conference’s top quarterbacks, welcomes the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class, and has aggressively rebuilt key areas of the roster through the transfer portal.
The arrival of Gary Patterson also signals a renewed commitment to building a disciplined, physical defense capable of complementing one of college football’s most explosive offenses.
USC has finished outside the top half of the Big Ten in scoring defense in each of its first two seasons in the conference, making defensive improvement one of the program’s biggest priorities entering 2026.
And if the Trojans are finally going to challenge for championships again, these five players will be at the heart of that journey.
Everything starts with the quarterback. And USC’s success in 2026 starts with Jayden Maiava.
After spending the previous two seasons establishing himself as USC’s starter, the former UNLV Rebels quarterback now enters 2026 carrying even greater responsibility.
The production speaks for itself. Maiava threw for 3,711 yards and 24 touchdowns while accounting for 30 total scores in 2025, finishing among the Big Ten’s most productive quarterbacks and posting the nation’s highest QBR according to USC.
This season, however, presents a different challenge.
With NFL Draft departures at wide receiver, Maiava must develop chemistry with an almost entirely new group of playmakers while continuing to refine the decision-making that NFL scouts will study closely ahead of the 2027 draft.
The arm talent and confidence have never been in doubt. And if Maiava takes another step as a distributor and leader, USC’s offense should once again rank among the nation’s most dangerous.
USC’s offense has long been associated with explosive passing attacks. But if the Trojans are to become the complete team Riley wants in 2026, the running game will need to be a renewed focus.
Waymond Jordan gives the Trojans something they have occasionally lacked in recent years: a punishing downhill runner capable of controlling games.
The former Hutchinson Community College standout arrived in Los Angeles after rushing for more than 1,600 yards and earning NJCAA Offensive Player of the Year honors, immediately showing why USC targeted him. Before a season-ending injury against Michigan interrupted his debut campaign, Jordan averaged an outstanding 6.5 yards per carry while also rushing for 576 yards and five touchdowns in only six games.
Now healthy again, expectations are understandably high.
Jordan’s combination of size, burst, and physicality should allow USC to play with greater balance, particularly against the physical defensive fronts that define the Big Ten.
If he returns to full strength, he has all the tools to emerge as one of the conference’s premier running backs.
Replacing Makai Lemon and Ja’Kobi Lane was never going to be easy.
That is exactly why USC attacked the transfer portal.
After two productive seasons with the NC State Wolfpack, Terrell Anderson arrives in Los Angeles with proven Power Four production and immediate expectations. Across 26 career games, the former four-star recruit totaled 53 receptions for 787 yards and six touchdowns, establishing himself as one of the portal’s most coveted receivers.
His value extends well beyond the numbers.
USC needed experience as much as explosiveness, and Anderson brings both. His ability to stretch the field while quickly earning Maiava’s trust should smooth the transition following significant turnover at wide receiver.
By the middle of the season, do not be surprised if Anderson has become the new face of USC’s receiving corps.
Few true freshmen arrive with expectations quite like Mark Bowman.
The five-star recruit from Mater Dei High School enrolled early after reclassifying, immediately becoming one of the headline additions from USC’s No. 1-ranked recruiting class. Ranked among the nation’s top tight end prospects by every major recruiting service, Bowman possesses the size, athleticism, and receiving ability to become a mismatch from the moment he steps onto the field.
Whether that happens immediately depends on how quickly he adjusts to the college game, but the opportunity is certainly there.
USC has steadily expanded its use of the tight end position, and Bowman’s versatility gives Riley another weapon capable of stressing linebackers and safeties over the middle.
Freshmen rarely define championship seasons.
Bowman has the talent to become one of the exceptions.
The biggest change at USC this season comes on defense with the arrival of Hall of Fame coach Patterson.
And those effects will be extremely noticeable in the secondary.
The addition of veteran cornerback Jontez Williams from the Iowa State Cyclones represents more than another experienced transfer. It reflects USC’s determination to finally fix a defense that has too often prevented the Trojans from reaching their full potential.
A former Second-Team All-Big 12 selection, Williams arrives with extensive starting experience despite seeing his 2025 season cut short by injury. His physicality, instincts, and leadership should prove invaluable inside Patterson’s defense, where disguise, disciplined leverage, and sound tackling will need to become defining characteristics to mount a challenge.
For years, USC’s offense has carried the weight of the program and has been good enough to compete with anyone.
But whether the Trojans become genuine championship contenders in 2026 may depend on players like Williams finally allowing the defense to catch up.
OWAIN JONES
COLLEGE FOOTBALL & NFL DRAFT ANALYST
OWAIN jones COVERS EVERYTHING college football & NFL DRAFT. COMING WITH PLENTY OF EXPERIENCE, OWAIN was PREVIOUSLY a writer for pfsn and WAS THE NFL DRAFT EDITOR AT NINETY-NINE YARDS WHERE HE CREATED DRAFT TALK. YOU CAN FOLLOW HIM ON TWITTER @OwainJonesCFB