Imagine you are a freshman quarterback who hasn’t seen many games, and in the blink of a moment, you are called to step up. Not just to be the second or third-string quarterback but as a starter tasked to fill the shoes of a big-name starter quarterback. Many would tremble at the thought, falter, and fail. But, not Jayden Maiava. So, when UNLV came calling to step up in place of an injured Doug Brumfield, Maiava took it personally. And with 261 passing yards and two touchdowns after, the score read 40-37. Jayden had made his mark on college football; coaches will now see his dominance for UNLV as he would finish with 3,085 yards and 17 touchdown passes, earning him the Mountain West Freshman Player of the Year. Things looked promising for Maiava.

Naturally, when USC came calling, he joined them and again filled in another QB1 (Miller Moss’s) shoes. This time, too, he delivered, winning 3 of the 4 games, including a bowl win against the Aggies. The 2025 season looked promising for the rising prodigy, and he has been touted to be the main man for USC. But that’s where things took a turn. Analysts still had their doubts about Jayden Maiava’s transition from a Mountain West team to a team competing in the Big 10. How would the quarterback make that transition?

Greg Katz, an analyst for ON3, has put forward his doubts regarding Jayden Maiava’s abilities in a March 12 episode of ‘WeAreSC.’ “My question is from a leadership standpoint (for Maiava). Is he a leader? Can he get to the point where he is a leader, period? In a lot of things, I don’t know if that’s true. I know that Lincoln Riley says he’s really excited, but that’s what he should do. He’s got to make the guy feel like he’s the second coming of Matt Leinart. But the truth of the matter is I’m not totally sold on him, not because I think he’s a bad kid or anything like that. But I saw things and mistakes“.

Let’s talk facts now. Jayden Maiava, last season, started 4 games and had a really good outing against the Aggies in the Las Vegas Bowl. Even in the Notre Dame game, in which the team lost, he produced 360 passing yards and 3 passing touchdowns. A quarterback rating of 76 isn’t that bad for Maiava (a young guy making his mark) against Notre Dame, for starters. He did have 2 interceptions in that game and dropped two pick-sixes, too. But the guy redeemed himself against the Aggies as he led the Trojans to a 35-31 win. That surely counts for something, right? However, that doesn’t mean the player has no areas to work on in his game.

First and foremost, he needs to improve his game, especially the rushing game, because he has competition now in Husan Longstreet. This is a 5-star-rated quarterback who possesses incredible arm talent. Husan had 3,013 passing yards for 24 touchdowns in his high school’s 2023 season and led them to the Southern Section D1 semifinals. So, yes, Jayden Maiava will need to improve in some areas. He certainly looked good on occasion, but inconsistency will need to be rooted out. He is still young and certainly is fully capable of making that transition, starting in these spring practice games. But, then comes the problem with Lincoln Riley’s strategies.

USC’s resurgence in recruiting strategies

USC Trojans’ recruiting under Lincoln Riley has come under a tough spotlight in recent years. This was the third year of Riley as the head coach, and we still haven’t seen the elite level of talents that USC should sign. Part of the reason may be because USC was not looking in-state too much and had focused their recruiting game pan country.

USC Football GM Chad Bowden hinted at the resurgence of an in-state recruiting focus in a recent statement. “The reason why this place won a national championship back in 2005? If you look and do research, over 80 percent of the classes that were signed back then were from the state of California. So I know the proof, and I know where it’s located.”

Sure, Chad Bowden is right in this regard, as we have seen the likes of Matt Leinart, who was just unworldly, then there was LenDale White as their running back and Dwayne Jarrett as their ace receiver. Together, these people delivered 30+ points per game and brought back the glory of the national championship in 2004. In the 2025 class, USC had just 5 prospects from the state of California, but that seems to be changing when you look at their 2026 class.

They have, in total, 15 commits in the 2026 class and are ranked impressively 1st in the whole country. They have top 4-star prospects like RJ Sermons (CB), Brandon Lockhart (CB), Simone Katoanga (Edge), and Trent Mosley (WR) from California and 5 other prospects rated 3-star from in-state. Sure, Lincoln Riley seems to be learning from his mistakes and will certainly look to redeem himself in the upcoming season.