USC Professional Athletes

Two Trojans, Six Touchdowns, Zero Caveats

The first week and a half of the 2026 NFL season offered a reminder of just how much USC talent is shaping the league's most important positions — and two alumni in particular are making noise that's impossible to ignore.

Caleb Williams: Historic Performance, Early MVP Case

Caleb Williams didn't ease into his 2026 campaign. The Chicago Bears quarterback torched the Carolina Panthers for 269 passing yards, two passing touchdowns, 65 rushing yards, and two more scores on the ground in a 59-37 blowout that rewrote the record books. The combined 96-point total made it the highest-scoring season-opening game in NFL history — a distinction that now has Williams' fingerprints all over it.

The performance was complete enough to earn him FedEx Air & Ground Player of the Week honors, and the MVP markets wasted no time reacting. Kalshi's NFL MVP market bumped Williams' odds upward following Week 1, and he surfaced prominently in Tom Brady's season-opening power rankings — with Brady explicitly naming Williams as an early MVP watch candidate.

What makes the Bears' offense particularly dangerous is that Williams isn't just a passer. Coach Ben Johnson has leaned into Williams' dual-threat ability as a genuine strategic weapon — one that makes the Bears harder to game-plan against, particularly heading into a Week 2 matchup against Brian Flores' Minnesota defense. Vikings safety Josh Metellus publicly acknowledged the difficulty of preparing for Williams, calling it a "mental war." That kind of pre-game respect is earned, not given.

A Panthers defensive lineman was also fined by the NFL for a hit on Williams during the Week 1 game, a footnote that underscores how much attention — and physicality — the Bears QB is already drawing.

Amon-Ra St. Brown: Quietly Putting Together a Monster Start

While Williams dominated the headlines, fellow Trojan Amon-Ra St. Brown has opened 2026 on an equally scorching note for the Detroit Lions. St. Brown caught 10 passes for 67 yards and two touchdowns in Week 1 against the Saints — a 31-30 Lions win that required every bit of his production. He followed that immediately with a 9-catch, 142-yard, two-touchdown performance against the Bills in Week 2, a game Detroit lost 31-41 but one in which St. Brown was the clear offensive centerpiece.

Four touchdowns through the first two weeks. Back-to-back multi-TD games to open a season. The Lions may be sorting through early-season turbulence, but their USC-trained receiver is not.

Around the League

Elsewhere, USC's alumni footprint is wide if quieter. Sam Darnold — now with the Seattle Seahawks — suffered a glute injury in Week 1 and was ruled out for Week 2, creating an opening for Drew Lock. Michael Pittman Jr., who was traded from the Colts to the Steelers in the offseason, led Pittsburgh in receiving yards in his debut but subsequently suffered a foot injury and was ruled out for Week 2. Drake London managed two catches for 29 yards in Atlanta's 13-20 loss to the Steelers. Woody Marks carried 42 yards on the ground for Houston in a Week 1 loss to Buffalo.

The headliners, though, are unambiguous. Williams and St. Brown are operating at a different level — and the Trojan alumni base has every reason to keep the NFL app open on Sunday afternoons.

Sam Darnold's coronation lap lasted exactly one series.

The USC quarterback — Super Bowl LX champion, face of the Seattle Seahawks franchise, and the man handed the marquee season-opening slot against the New England Patriots — was sacked, hobbled off the field with a hip injury, and ruled out before halftime on September 9. Thirteen passing yards. That was the full statistical output of Darnold's 2026 campaign debut.

The game itself was a rematch nobody wanted to miss: Seattle raising its Super Bowl banner at Lumen Field, Darnold facing the same Patriots team he beat for the title just months earlier. Instead, the story pivoted fast. Backup Drew Lock stepped in and went 16-for-22 for 187 yards, one touchdown, and a 113.3 passer rating, steering Seattle to a gritty 13-10 win. The Seahawks got the result, but the cost was steep.

Darnold was sacked by Dre'Mont Jones on the play that ended his night, and the Seahawks ruled him out just before halftime. His availability going forward remains in serious doubt, and Seattle is already exploring contingency options at quarterback — including, per reports, a potential push to lure a former Super Bowl-winning QB out of retirement.

It's a brutal twist for a player whose redemption arc had become one of the NFL's best stories. Darnold's journey from Panthers castoff to Seahawks champion was supposed to kick off its next chapter Thursday night. Instead, it's on hold.

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Other Trojans in Action

Darnold wasn't the only USC alum on the field at Lumen Field. Linebacker Uchenna Nwosu and defensive tackle Leonard Williams — both Seahawks — suited up in the opener. Williams recorded a sack in the win, adding to a night where Seattle's defense did enough to protect a slim lead after the offense was forced into emergency mode.

Elsewhere around the league, Amon-Ra St. Brown enters the 2026 season needing just 33 catches to claim the most receptions ever through a receiver's first six NFL seasons — a quiet but significant milestone for the Lions' WR1. Detroit also restructured St. Brown's contract this week alongside Penei Sewell's deal, a move designed to create salary cap flexibility for future extensions.

In Chicago, Caleb Williams and the Bears are pushing back against regression narratives following their 2025 breakout. A team insider called the storyline "lazy" and vowed to use the outside skepticism as motivation. Williams also got a new weapon locked in: D'Andre Swift re-signed on a three-year, $33.75 million deal — giving the USC passer a proven backfield option heading into Year 2.

And in Houston, Jaylin Smith got good news ahead of the Texans' opener against Buffalo, with a new league fine policy working in the second-year corner's favor.

The week belonged to Darnold's injury — and the uncomfortable silence that followed one of the sport's loudest season-opening moments. For USC fans tracking their alumni across the league, the range ran from milestone chases to milestone setbacks. Rarely in the same week does one school's footprint feel so wide — and one moment so deflating.

The Snub Heard Round the Pacific Northwest

Sam Darnold won a Super Bowl. He matched Tom Brady's feat of back-to-back 14-win seasons. And ESPN rewarded him with the No. 100 spot — dead last — on its 2026 top 100 players list.

The ranking landed like a slow-burning bulletin board moment for Seattle and its fan base as the Seahawks open their title defense this week. Sports Illustrated's own breakdown of the top 25 Seahawks entering 2026 slotted Darnold at No. 4 on the roster — a stark contrast to where the national media has placed him. The USC product has spent an offseason collecting doubters the way most champions collect rings, and heading into Week 1, the chip on his shoulder appears load-bearing.

Leonard Williams Goes Looking for Answers

While Darnold absorbs the external noise, his USC teammate and fellow Seahawk Leonard Williams has been doing his homework the old-fashioned way — calling the people who've been there.

The veteran defensive tackle revealed he sought out his father-in-law, Pro Football Hall of Famer Ronnie Lott, as well as former Seahawks legends to ask a simple question: how hard is it to repeat? The message he received, by his own account, was blunt — it's a tough road. That kind of self-scouting from a championship-caliber player suggests Seattle's locker room isn't taking anything for granted, even with arguably the best front-seven anchor in the NFC still anchoring the defense.

Williams and Darnold give USC a rare distinction: two prominent alumni not just on the same Super Bowl roster, but among its most essential pieces as it tries to become the first back-to-back champion in years.

Around the Rest of the League

The USC pipeline doesn't stop in Seattle. A handful of other Trojans are generating buzz heading into Week 1.

In Minnesota, Jordan Addison is drawing bold predictions from analysts who believe the wide receiver is poised to break out further under new quarterback Kyler Murray. Addison posted a 64.9 PFF grade last season on 473 pass snaps, and Vikings observers are watching closely to see if Murray can unlock another gear for the second-year wideout.

In Denver, Talanoa Hufanga is already making his presence felt — the safety credited teammate JL Skinner as the Broncos' "most improved player" heading into the season, a quote that underscores Hufanga's veteran voice in that locker room despite being just a few years removed from his own All-Pro caliber run in San Francisco.

And in Miami, Austin Jackson is reportedly in contract extension conversations with the Dolphins, according to a Friday mailbag from SI — a sign the offensive tackle has secured his footing after a career that began with high draft expectations and some early turbulence.

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The broader USC presence in the NFL is wide — over 50 active alumni across the league — but the story entering Week 1 centers squarely on Seattle. Darnold and Williams are the headliners of what could be a historic run, armed with something that's harder to manufacture than talent: genuine motivation to prove everyone wrong.

USC has two alumni dominating NFL headlines this preseason week — and they couldn't be doing it in more different ways. Caleb Williams is generating buzz as the face of the league's most exciting offense, while Leonard Williams just cashed in with one of the biggest defensive contracts of the offseason.

Caleb Williams: Bear Necessities, Elevated

ESPN didn't bury the lede: the Chicago Bears are the NFL's most watchable team heading into 2026, and Caleb Williams is the main reason why. Williams' flair for dramatic comebacks was cited as a driving force behind Chicago earning the top spot in ESPN's league-wide watchability rankings — no small distinction for a franchise that has spent decades searching for a quarterback worth watching.

The national attention isn't just narrative fluff. CBS Sports tabbed Williams as the headliner of its 2026 NFL All-Breakout Team on offense, with analysts pointing to a second-year leap as genuinely attainable. Oddsmakers are already entertaining the possibility that Williams becomes the first quarterback in Bears history to throw for 4,000 yards in a season — a threshold no Chicago passer has ever reached.

Joint practices with the Tennessee Titans this week gave Williams a live stage, and he reportedly used it to mentor rookie Titans QB Cam Ward, who publicly revealed the advice Williams shared. That kind of veteran presence — in Year 2 — speaks to the stature Williams has already built in the league.

Still, the week wasn't without friction. Williams' one-series preseason debut against Cincinnati exposed an offensive line problem that hasn't gone away: a penalty and a missed red-zone opportunity flagged a left tackle situation the Bears haven't resolved. With the regular-season opener against the Panthers approaching, Chicago still hasn't named a clear starter at the position most critical to keeping their $40 million quarterback upright. Ben Johnson has work to do.

Leonard Williams: Paid in Full, Seattle-Style

Across the league, the other Williams in Troy's NFL stable is done negotiating. Leonard Williams agreed to a three-year, $90 million extension with the Seattle Seahawks, according to ESPN's Ian Rapoport — making him one of the highest-paid defensive tackles in the game.

The deal lands just as Williams was entering the final year of his previous contract, giving Seattle the kind of interior anchor that championship-caliber defenses are built around. The Seahawks had already extended Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Devon Witherspoon earlier this offseason, signaling a clear organizational intent to keep their core together. Williams is now the latest — and most expensive — piece locked in.

The financial commitment isn't without ripple effects: FanSided reported that the $90 million price tag puts pressure on several teammates whose roster futures are now complicated by Seattle's tightening cap picture. But for the Seahawks, the calculus was simple — Williams is the kind of disruptive presence you pay to keep.

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Two Trojans, two defining preseason stories. Williams under center in Chicago is the most compelling quarterback narrative heading into the season. Williams in the trenches in Seattle just became one of the highest-paid defensive players in the NFL. For USC alumni tracking the pro game, this is as good a week as it gets.