USC Trojans’ Ja’Kobi Lane Earns Major Nod As Top Player To Watch in Big Ten

The following week against Notre Dame, Lane caught just three passes, but all three went for touchdowns. Heading into the Las Vegas Bowl, USC saw three of its top six receivers enter the winter transfer portal. 

So, coach Lincoln Riley had a choice. Dive deep into the depth chart to maintain a rotation at the position or tighten the rotation. He chose the latter. Lane, Makai Lemon and Kyle Ford played 92% of the snaps at receiver against the Aggies. As a result, Lane reeled in seven receptions for a career-high 127 yards and three touchdowns. 

Lane finished the season with 43 receptions for 525 yards and 12 touchdowns, which ranked second in the Big Ten behind Ohio State superstar Jeremiah Smith. Now, the numbers won’t blow anyone away, but his performance down the stretch caught the attention of the college football world and NFL evaluators. 

ESPN NFL Draft analyst Jordan Reid rated Lane as he No. 1 receiver on his board heading into the fall. Lane could become the third USC receiver since 2022 to hear his name called on night one, joining Atlanta Falcons receiver Drake London and Minnesota Vikings receiver Jordan Addison. 

And in a recent episode of “See Ball, Get Ball”, college football analyst David Pollack named Lane as one of his players to watch in the Big Ten. 

“Listen, Lincoln Riley didn’t forget how to coach offense. I think another year with a quarterback that, by the way, I saw plenty of flashes of really, really good,” Pollack said. “I need less mistakes but a year in the system I think helps. But, Ja’Kobi Lane, dude. He only had 500 yards receiving a year ago but he had 12 (touchdowns), and he was the big play threat,” said Pollack. “He is 6’4”. You know, he can make those big plays.”

Lane was excellent during spring practice. The Arizona native went viral a couple of times for making tremendous one-handed catches. Riley raved about the progression he saw from Lane, not just from a performance standpoint, but also his maturity. 

“He’s taking his craft more seriously, he’s taking the leadership more seriously," Riley said. "Haven’t had some of the emotional ups and downs that at times have plagued him early in his career and if that continues, he’ll be set up to have a great season and most importantly be a really good leader for this team.”

The former four-star recruit in the 2023 cycle is now one of the upperclassmen in the receiver room and is expected to take his gravitating personality and turn it into leadership. 

“Some of the older receivers are gone now and he’s getting to the point where he not only needs to mature individually but this team needs him in terms of the leader and presence that he is because he does have an infectious energy, competitive energy, It affects our football team," Riley said. 

“He’s got some big goals for this team and he wants to be a leader and he wants to be someone that this team can count on each and every day and he knows the path to that is more consistency in all areas. He’s doing a lot of things better than he ever has. He’s got great intent for it. He continues to grow and progress and we’re just going to need him to stay on that track,” Riley continued. 

Whether or not Riley decides to go back to a heavy receiver rotation or keep players such as Lane and Lemon on the field for a large chunk of the offensive snaps is a question that won’t be answered until the fall.