Unless you’re a pretty big college football fan, there’s a decent shot that you have no idea who the hell I’m talking about. I actually have to give props to my brother on this one; he pretty much sold me on the wagon that is Kedon Slovis. If you’re not sure who this guy is (and completely skipped over the very obvious header image), he is the rising sophomore quarterback for the University of Southern California Trojans, and a 28-to-1 longshot to win the Heisman Trophy next year. With Reggie Bush being welcomed back into the USC Football family not too long ago, I figured I’d state my case for why you should drop a unit or two on Slovis, a fellow Trojan, to give a speech in New York come December.
Before we get into the blog, is there a sicker job in college sports than being the starting quarterback at USC? You live in one of the most beautiful parts of the country (with the best looking girls, bar none) and go to a school where they have a rich football tradition. Not to mention the academic side of things, where Southern Cal excels as well.
Anyways, you’re probably wondering how he fared last year. Here’s his game log, which was good enough to make him 2019 Pac-12 Freshman of the Year:
Completing almost 72 percent of your passes is absolutely slinging the rock. That’s a pretty nuts season for a true freshman who didn’t even start the year training as the starting QB. You heard me correctly: Kedon was initially the backup who was thrown into the line of fire after stud QB JT Daniels tore his ACL in the season opener. In essentially 10 games, Slovis threw for over 3500 yards and 30 touchdowns to just 9 interceptions. He was so impressive that former QB Daniels (a five-star, can’t miss prospect) entered his name in the transfer portal after the season and has since wound up at Georgia. That’s right, Kedon Slovis, who was ranked number 705 in the 2019 class, beat out JT Daniels, who was ranked number 12 in the 2018 class.
The stats speak for themselves (I mean the guy threw for 400+ yards in four of his final six games), but below are some non-statistical reasons that this guy will win the Heisman trophy:
Loaded Receiving Corps
Let’s take a look at the recruiting profiles for Kedon’s top four targets:
Yes, that is the same St. Brown family as Packers receiver Equanimeous. Ignore the Texas commitment listed for McCoy, he’s at USC now. But that is an absolutely stacked WR room. Two five-stars, two four-stars, and nobody outside the top 250 in their class. These are some absolute bodies for Slovis to throw to. On a side note, if you’re not hip to the St. Brown family, please read this article, it’s fascinating. I’m gonna have to refer to my kids as the 4.0 Thugs.
Coaching
I’m not talking about Clay Helton, who’s kinda meh as a head coach. I’m referring to the two QB coaches/offensive coordinators he’s been lucky enough to have in his football career thus far: Kurt Warner at Desert Mountain High School in Scottsdale, Arizona, and now Graham Harrell at USC.
Can we talk about how dope it would be to have Kurt Warner as your quarterbacks coach in HIGH SCHOOL. Most high school QB coaches are washed up athletes themselves with a moderate to severe dip addiction. Kurt’s gotta be the most overqualified quarterbacks coach going in the high school ranks right now. What a life he’s lived – bagging groceries, to arena football, to Super Bowl MVP, to teaching high schoolers how to throw a spiral.
Anyways, it’s safe to say that he was well taken care of at Desert Mountain, but what about once he made the move out west to Southern Cal? Not unlike Graham Harrell’s playing career which ended with him holding numerous NCAA passing records, USC runs an air raid offense, perfect for putting up Heisman-type numbers. I fully expect Slovis to have another outstanding year in his system.
USC’s Status As A Football Great
When you play at Southern Cal, every game is in the national media spotlight. Because of this, if you ball out in any given year, you will be in the Heisman race, no ifs ands or buts. Going along with this, USC plays Alabama week 1 at Jerry World down in Texas. That will surely be a marquee game of the opening week, so if Slovis and the Trojans can pull off an upset it will be game on for his Heisman candidacy.
I feel like with all I’ve stated in this piece that he should be way lower than +2800 to win the big award, so hop on the bandwagon before he inevitably drops after a few great games.
Hit me up on Twitter @jziller17 if you throw anything on Kedon, I think it’s a lock.
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