USC officially announces 're-signing' of four defensive players

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In today’s era of NIL and the transfer portal, putting together a college football roster has never been more complicated. A huge part of the challenge for teams involves browsing the portal each offseason for targets at key positions. Perhaps even more important, however, is keeping your own players around for multiple years to allow them to develop and grow within the program.

Over the weekend, USC made some notable moves in the latter category, officially announcing the “re-signing” of several notable defensive players for the 2026 season. Let’s take a look at who is officially returning to play for the Trojans in 2026.

Braylan Shelby

The defensive lineman is set to return to USC for his senior season. In three years with the Trojans, Shelby has recorded 71 tackles, 9.5 sacks, a forced fumble, an interception, and a pass defended.

Christian Pierce

The safety will also return to USC for his senior year. Over the past three seasons, Shelby has 73 tackles, three passes defended, and one sack.

Marcelles Williams

As a redshirt freshman this season cornerback this season, Williams has 37 tackles and four passes defended. He has three years of eligibility remaining, and will be back at USC for at least one more of them.

Jadyn Walker

Walker is also a redshirt freshman who has 29 tackles and one sack at linebacker this year. Like Williams, he has three years of eligibility remaining and will spend at least one of them with the Trojans.

Continuing to monitor

USC still has numerous other players with NFL draft/transfer portal decisions to make. In the next few weeks, we should get a much better sense of who will be on the Trojans’ 2026 roster and who will be heading elsewhere next season.

This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: USC football ‘re-signs’ four defensive players for 2026 roster

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