USC’s Elijah Newby sees switch from LB to DE as an opportunity
LOS ANGELES — There are a lot of moving parts and reconfigurations in the sport of football, and it’s no different for USC’s team.
The Trojans have been making adjustments and position changes heading into the spring, particularly on the defensive end, to better suit the skills of certain players and their defensive schemes in general.
One of the players who switched positions is redshirt freshman Elijah Newby, who moved from linebacker to defensive end.
Newby played both positions in high school but came into his freshman year as a linebacker, seeing action in five games last year.
Moving over to the defensive line this season, he’s had to put on some weight, a little more than 30 pounds so far he said, but still maintain the quickness and speed to get to the quarterback.
The change allows for him to be paired with some of the bigger players on the line and opens up the defensive playbook, leading to more creative packages.
“It definitely presents me with a new opportunity and just overall opens up our defense for us to use me in different ways,” Newby said after Thursday’s practice. “And then certain packages paired me up with one of those bigger guys, so it’s definitely going to be fun. So just being out there and just being able to be myself, I know we’re going to have success and the defense is going to have success.”
Redshirt senior Anthony Beavers Jr. is another player who has gone through a position swap, though he started to move over from safety to linebacker a few games into last season.
The Trojans needed to bolster their linebacking corps last year after Eric Gentry was ruled out for the season. The veteran moved over to help fill the void and will remain in that spot heading into the 2025 campaign.
The ease at which Beavers, Newby and other players can maneuver to different positions speaks to the versatility of the defense as a whole.
“There’s just so many people who play at different positions and know the defense,” Beavers said. “We’re going to be second-year guys in the defense with Coach (D’Anton) Lynn, so I think just being able to plug and play different people with different places. For example, EG (Gentry) is able to play everything. Kamari (Ramsay) is able to play different things.”
While Beavers and Newby are bringing different skill sets to their new position groups, they’re bringing more than just physical traits.
As one of the elder statesmen in the linebacker group, Beavers is relied upon to “keep the room in order,” as he put it, and help teach the younger players how to have good practice habits.
And Newby makes sure he brings a little fun to the group as well.
“I’m always making them smile, even when I wasn’t in the position group. So now that I’m in a room with them, they feel like they got me to motivate them,” Newby said. “Somebody there that, even if they’re having a bad practice, I could be the person to sit there and make them smile. I could tell them a little joke, ‘Come on, let’s do it,’ and then we just go out there and attack it together.”
RILEY PRAISES RUNNING BACKS
Head coach Lincoln Riley said on Thursday that he has been impressed with the running backs midway through spring practices.
The group features newcomers Eli Sanders and Waymond Jordan, both transfers, freshman Riley Wormley and up-and-coming sophomore Bryan Jackson.
“I like the running back room a lot. That’s a good group. Those guys are working well together,” Riley said. “Coach (Anthony) Jones has done an outstanding job with that group and some varying skill sets. I think that could be the most effective room that we’ve had in the years we’ve been here based on what I’ve seen on the field up to this point.”