In terms of the NFL scouting services could the USC starting LB corp be the best ever? Keith Rivers would have been a 1rst rounder had he come out this year. Sorry Carolina, Pittsburg, and Buffalo (P. Posluszny 2nd round) fans but Keith Rivers is better than all 3 of your LB choices, but he really isn't why I'm posting this. Rivers we all know about, actually any draftnik has known about Rivers since his soph. year 2 seasons ago, the other two future superstars are Brian Cushing and the baddest MLB the NCAA has seen since Brian Urlacher, Rey Maualuga.
Can there be or was there a better LB unit that played together in terms of all three being selected in the 1rst round of the NFL Draft? I doubt it.
Like I said, Rivers we all know about, but Brian Cushing could be the next big 3-4 LB that comes out of college. He certainly can rush the passer as we saw last year with more blitzing responsibility, but he can also cover like a typical 4-3 LB. Brian Cushing is going to be what Bobby Carpenter was supposed to be in Dallas. Cushing at 6-4 245lbs is the perfect strong side 3-4 LB. He can play the run and rush the passer along with having to play in coverage. San Fransico could certainly use him opposite Manny Lawson on the strong side. Also Miami, New England, and now that Arizona is using 3-4 looks would all love to have Cushing manning the strong side. He has 4.6 speed and pretty smooth hips for a big white boy with great size. And coming from a winning program, you can't teach leadership and confidence like he has.
My favorite LB though on the USC defense is hands down is MLB Rey Maualuga. There isn't a nastier player in all of college. Nobody and I mean nobody plays with fiery passion and pure aggression that Maualuga plays with. He plays like a certain San Diego player by the name of Shawn Merriman. Shawn plays with an utter disregard for destruction and chaos. And so does Rey. Maualuga plays to hurt someone and when you see him play you can see that pure hatred for the opposing team. Also not to mention that he is probably the most athletic LB at his position in the entire nation. Maualuga can run in the high 4.5's at 6'1 250lbs. along with being able to have the ability to cover running backs and tight ends and he also adds the up-the-middle pass rush that Ray Lewis uses. Maualuga also has the leadership qualities that most his age just don't aquire without experience. He seems to have been born with it and as a true junior has certainly showed it. With that said there is a small amount of anger control issues he has to be able to control off the field. Let's just say he isn't one to back down from a fight. I'll just leave it at that.
I seriously can't think of a better three to have as your starting linebacking corp. All three of these guys is a potential superstar at the NFL level. And all three will be a 1rst round pick. I don't even think the great Miami U. teams had all three starting linebackers go in the same 1rst round. If you have a chance to actually sit down and watch the Trojans this year and watch them please pay attention to the LB corp. Now there will be other linebackers who will get more publicity than Rey, Brian, and Keith such as James Laurinaitis and Dan Conner but know this niether of them is better than Maualuga or Rivers, maybe Cushing, but only because he's more of a 3-4 OLB. I know it's hard to notice them while watching USC especially with all the hype and question marks that will be around the offense this year, but trust me these guys will wow you. So sit back and watch the fireworks.
