USC will be without both its top receiving target and its top offensive lineman for the Cotton Bowl, as each focus on putting nagging injuries behind them ahead of the NFL draft process.
Wideout Jordan Addison has elected not to play in the bowl game, USC coach Lincoln Riley said Wednesday, in order to rehab the nagging ankle injury that kept him out for a month earlier this season.
Offensive guard Andrew Vorhees, who also spent most of the second half of the season battling various injuries, “is not physically going to be ready for the game,” Riley said.
The nature of Vorhees’ injury was not disclosed, but USC’s coach said that “it kills [the sixth-year senior] not to be able to play.”
“He’s put it on the line for this team all year,” Riley said. “Can’t say enough about him and the job he’s done.”
For Addison, his decision to sit out the bowl game almost certainly marks the end of a brief, one-year tenure at USC. The Biletnikoff Award winner in 2021, Addison transferred to USC less than a year ago and finished tied for the Pac-12 lead in receiving touchdowns (8) this season, despite missing time with the ankle injury.
He’s expected to be a first-round pick in the upcoming NFL draft. If he is, that’ll mark two straight seasons in which a USC receiver was selected in the first round.
Vorhees, meanwhile, is likely to be one of the top interior linemen draft in the spring. He’s expected to be a Day 2 pick.
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