Calen Bullock, Mason Cobb nationally seen as leaders of USC’s 2023 defense
The preseason All-Pac-12 teams were released on Tuesday. On defense, only one USC Trojan was named to the first team, safety Calen Bullock. Two Trojans made the second-team defensive roster. One was Eric Gentry, who played well in the first half of the 2022 season for USC before getting hurt. He returned to the field late in the season but was not physically ready for Utah in the Pac-12 Championship Game. Gentry’s inclusion on the second team might be viewed as the most pleasant surprise for USC on the preseason All-Pac-12 rosters.
The other All-Pac-12 second-teamer for USC is an incoming transfer. Former Oklahoma State linebacker Mason Cobb, who will represent the Trojans at Pac-12 media day this Friday, made the second team.
Let’s cast aside the topic of how USC players are viewed internally. What coaches and players think is an inside-the-program vantage point. In terms of national and regional perception of USC, it seems clear that Calen Bullock and Mason Cobb are seen as the leaders of this defense.
Part of this flows from the reality that USC had significant injuries in the secondary last year, most notably to Domani Jackson and Zion Branch. Those two could be great this year, but they just haven’t played much.
The other factor here is that USC’s defensive line has been dramatically remade in the transfer portal. People are waiting to see what the end product looks like. This leaves us with Bullock and Cobb, two proven commodities, plus Gentry as a guy who flourished in the first six weeks of the 2022 season before getting hurt.
Do Bullock and Cobb need to be the leaders most national observers think they will be for USC? Sure. Absolutely.
Yet, the real key is how those injured defensive backs and those transfer portal pieces on the defensive line support Bullock and Cobb this season for Alex Grinch and the Trojans.
