No school has produced more Heisman Trophy winners than Southern Cal.
There have been seven of them, all skill players — five running backs (Mike Garrett, O.J. Simpson, Charles White, Marcus Allen and Reggie Bush) and two quarterbacks (Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart). That allows us to draw this conclusion – they know how to block at Southern Cal.
The Trojans rank second all-time with 509 NFL draft picks. But Southern Cal leads with 80 first-rounders — and a staggering 20 of them have been offensive tackles.
Ron Yary was the first overall selection of the NFL draft in 1968 by the Minnesota Vikings. He’s now in the Hall of Fame. Tony Boselli was the second overall choice of the 1995 draft. He was a Hall-of-Fame finalist for the Class of 2017. Anthony Munoz was the third overall pick of the 1980 draft. He’s also in the Hall of Fame.
Southern Cal has had 10 offensive tackles selected in the Top 10 of drafts, including Ron Mix. He was the 10th overall choice of the 1960 draft and became a Hall-of-Fame blocker for the San Diego Chargers. The Dallas Cowboys selected Tryon Smith with the ninth overall selection of the 2011 draft, and he has now gone to four Pro Bowls in his six seasons.
Here’s is the all-time Southern Cal NFL team:
OFFENSE
QB – Carson Palmer, 3 Pro Bowls
RB – O.J. Simpson, Hall of Fame
RB – Marcus Allen, Hall of Fame
WR – Lynn Swann, Hall of Fame
WR – Keyshawn Johnson, 3 Pro Bowls
TE – Charle Young, 3 Pro Bowls
OT – Anthony Munoz, Hall of Fame
OT – Ron Mix, Hall of Fame
G – Bruce Matthews, Hall of Fame
G – Roy Foster, 3 Pro Bowls
C – Ryan Kalil, 5 Pro Bowls
DEFENSE
DE – Everson Griffen, 2 Pro Bowls
DE – Gary Jeter, 79 career sacks
DT – Jurrell Casey, 2 Pro Bowls
DT – Darrell Russell, 2 Pro Bowls
LB – Clay Matthews Jr., 4 Pro Bowls
LB – Clay Matthews III, 6 Pro Bowls
LB – Junior Seau, Hall of Fame
DB – Ronnie Lott, Hall of Fame
DB – Willie Wood, Hall of Fame
DB – Troy Polamalu, 2000s NFL all-decade team
DB – Don Doll, 4 Pro Bowls
SPECIAL TEAMS
K – David Buehler, 114 career points
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