Lincoln Riley Reveals Which Freshman Offensive Linemen Are Standing Out

USC Trojans center Kilian O'Connor has limited during spring practice, opening the door for USC coach Lincoln Riley and his staff to experiment with different combinations along the offensive line.

While USC returns experienced offensive linemen in addition to O'Connor, like Tobias Raymond, Elijah Paige, Alani Noa, and Elijah Vaikona, the Trojans also have some intriguing younger pieces in the offensive line room. After Wednesday's practice, Riley highlighted offensive linemen Breck Kolojay, Keenyi Pepe, Vlad Dyakonov, and Kannon Smith.

Lincoln Riley Highlights Young Offensive Linemen Standing Out

usc trojans lincoln riley offensive line injury update kilian o'connor tobias raymond breck kolojay keenyi pepe big ten — (#43) Breck Kolojay, OL, 6'6, 317 pounds, for the white team, Class of 2026, during IMG's Academy Pro Day held at IMG's football field in Bradenton, FL on Thursday, Feb, 27, 2025. | Thomas Bender/ Sarasota Herald-Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

"Before he got dinged up, I mean, Breck (Kolojay) was the furthest along. And I think he'll factor in for us some way, some how, based on what we saw the first couple of weeks," said Riley. "Kannon Smith, we've repped him at center. He's been really impressive. (Keenyi) Pepe has a lot of really good reps. Vlad (Dyakonov) has a lot of really good reps. Those are probably the guys up to this point that have stood out the most."

The Trojans learned the importance of offensive line depth throughout the 2025 season, but Riley and company have time to let younger players like Kolojay and Pepe develop while the team's more experienced linemen hold down the starting roles.

And based off of Riley's comments, some of the USC freshmen like Kolojay may push their way towards the top of the depth chart. With a talented recruiting class and the entire starting offensive line returning, the Trojans did not elect to add any offensive linemen through the transfer portal, signaling confidence in the talent already in the program.

Still, USC is preparing for any situation and rotating guys through different positions thanks in part to the injury to O'Connor, who had an injury-riddled season in 2025. His year ended early with a knee injury suffered against the Oregon Ducks in November.

Lincoln Riley on Tobias Raymond, Kilian O'Connor

Raymond has been one of USC's more versatile offensive linemen, and he has recently gotten some work at center with O'Connor sidelined during the spring.

"It’s definitely a realistic option. I mean as we learned from last year where we had to play musical chairs with that group, like you never know what’s going to happen," said Riley. "So with Killian out right now, it was just something that made a lot of sense. And not just that. When we looked at everybody else that we wanted to rep this spring, it was the best way to rep some of these other guys at tackle, some of these other guys at guard. And we’ve moved Tobias around some, he hasn’t worked solely at center this spring."

"But yeah, it’s good for his development. He’s a smart guy, he’s been around. He does some things physically that you really really like, and it’ll create more competition at center and give us more depth and versatility when the fall gets here," Riley continued.

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