Steven Mitchell tears ACL in summer session

USC experienced some roster turnover this week that benefitted the squad’s defense but depleted the depth of what is considered by many to be the Trojans’ most talent-laden position.

On Saturday, USC confirmed that freshman receiver Steven Mitchell would miss the upcoming season after tearing ligaments in his right knee while attending a voluntary throwing session.

Lindsey Thiry of Scout.com reported that Mitchell was running a deep route when he planted his right leg in the newly installed turf at Cromwell Field to turn around and make a catch. His knee immediately buckled and twisted, reportedly causing Mitchell to scream in pain as freshman quarterback Max Browne fetched the training staff, who were absent because of an NCAA rule that prohibits staff from attending voluntary workouts.

Mitchell is the second USC receiver to suffer a season-ending knee injury in the last two months, along with junior George Farmer.

Listed at 5’10” and 180 pounds, Mitchell was expected to provide speed over the middle as a slot receiver to complement junior superstar Marqise Lee and promising sophomore Nelson Agholor, who are expected to start at the outside flanker positions.

While the Trojans still have Lee and Agholor to headline their flanker core, the shorthanded unit now comprises only five scholarship players.

Freshman Darreus Rogers, redshirt senior De’Von Flourney and junior Victor Blackwell will compete for increased playing time to round out a receiving corps suddenly short on bodies. The trio combined for just one catch last season.

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Though not yet official, the Trojans appear poised to receive commitments from two highly rated transfers, albeit two players who won’t be allowed to play until the fall of 2014, per NCAA transfer rules.

The recruiting trail of incoming Florida State linebacker Matthew Thomas, ESPN’s top-rated linebacker in the class of 2013, took another turn on Monday night when his father said his son wanted to go to USC, according to ESPN’s Joe Schad.

Thomas, ranked sixth overall by ESPN, has publicly said since February that initially committing to the Seminoles was a mistake, influenced by his mother’s refusal to sign her son’s letter of intent to USC.

In May, Thomas asked Florida State to release him from his commitment, but the school has said in statements that it will refuse the request. If Thomas follows through on a transfer to USC, he must give up a season of eligibility and start his college football career in 2014.

Former Texas Tech defensive tackle Delvon Simmons, a five-star member of the class of 2011, announced on his Twitter account last week that he’d be transferring to Troy. Simmons accrued 27 tackles, six tackles for loss and two sacks while starting all 13 games for the Red Raiders last season.

Simmons chose UNC out of high school but was released from his commitment to the Tar Heels because of sanctions resulting from recruiting violations made by former coach Butch Davis.

Simmons, a Pennsylvania native, had been linked to Pittsburgh and Penn State and visited Miami before settling on USC. He could pair up with sophomore defensive end Leonard Williams, who collected 64 tackles, 13.5 tackles for loss and eight sacks at tackle last year, in 2014 to form a fearsome duo on the defensive line for the Trojans.

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Eddie Vanderdoes, a five-star defensive lineman from the class of 2013, announced last week that he will attend UCLA, his third commitment involving three schools in less than a year.

Vanderdoes originally committed to the Trojans last July before rescinding his commitment amid USC’s disastrous season. The Auburn, Calif. native ended up picking Notre Dame on Signing Day before mysteriously recanting once again.

Like Thomas, Vanderdoes will have to sit out the 2013 season, because Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly said he will not release the defensive tackle from his letter of intent in order to “protect the integrity of [Notre Dame].”