USC Trojans’ Lincoln Riley Reveals Injury Update on Receiver Ja’Kobi Lane

Now an upperclassman, USC coach Lincoln Riley challenged Lane in the spring to become more of a vocal leader on the team and it’s a role that he has embraced. 

The reason for Lane’s limited practice reps had been a mystery for weeks, until Riley revealed on Thursday that suffered a broken foot in May. 

USC has certainly been cautious about Lane during camp. He began running routes full speed with his teammates the second week of camp and they have slowly been ramping up since.

Wide Receiver Depth 

Lane’s availability for week 1 doesn’t feel in jeopardy, but in the case the Trojans wanted to continue to cautious with Lane with Missouri State and Georgia Southern on the schedule to open the season, Riley is optimistic in the depth at the receiver room. 

Junior receiver Makai Lemon will lead the way, but Riley highlighted several veterans that have had good camps, including Prince Strachan, Zacharyus Williams, Jay Fair, Jaden Richardson and Xavier “DJ” Jordan. 

Strachan and Williams were big additions in the transfer portal. Fair and Richardson transferred to Southern Cal last season and are prepared to step into a larger role in 2025. Jordan was a highly touted top 100 recruit in the 2024 recruiting class. 

The Trojans coach has also been impressed with a pair of four-star true freshmen in Corey Simms and Tanook Hines. 

“Corey Sims has done some really good things. He had to miss a little bit of time in the middle of camp, but has come back strong and looks to have the ability to help this team this year,” Riley said. 

Redshirt senior tight end Lake McRee talked about the progression of Simms, who was on campus in the spring and Hines, who has developed some buzz coming out of camp. 

“Corey was here in spring, so he kind of was doing some good stuff  and then he looks a lot more comfortable in fall camp since he was here last spring,” McRee said. “But I think Tanook has done an awesome job. He's made some really, really good plays that you normally don't see a freshman making, and it's super cool to see him, you know, build on that every single day, and it'll be cool to see you know what his role is this year.”

Over the last two seasons, the Trojans relied on about a six to seven receiver rotation. It still remains to be seen what Riley will do this season, but in a spread offense depth at the position is essential.