Pregnon enrolled at Wyoming in 2020 and was unrated by the scouting services. He didn’t play that year in the Cowboys’ covid-shortened season, and redshirted the next season in 2021 with just a single brief appearance.

In 2022, Pregnon started at right guard from the first snap of the opener. In the 3^rd quarter of their sixth game against San José State, Pregnon got hurt on a successful 4^th & short conversion during a comeback drive (the Pokes then went on four consecutive 1-2-3-punt sequences for the rest of the game in his absence). He missed the next two full games against New Mexico and Utah State with a bye week between them, then returned for the final four games of the regular season and the bowl.

So that’s 11 starts in Laramie – nine full FBS games plus a partial one, and a full FCS game. For various other projects, I’d already reviewed seven of those games: all but one of the Mountain West opponents, the opener against Illinois, and week 4 against BYU … fate had me missing both of the games Pregnon did, curiously.

Wyoming’s offense was not exactly fun to watch – the transfer QB didn’t get his covid 6^th year super-senior bump until the following season when he jumped up to the FBS median in passer rating for 2023, because in 2022 he was multiple standard deviations below it, and longtime coach Craig Bohl and OC Jay Johnson operate whatever the opposite of a modern analytically driven offense is called. The Pokes ranked 113^th in F+ offensive advanced statistics for 2022 – a total lack of explosive playmaking kept causing drives to peter out, dooming them to a 7-6 season and a low ranking in most advanced statistical models — but the one bright spot was efficiency rushing which graded out at 57.8% behind pretty good line play, at least in the games I charted which don’t include the ones Pregnon missed.

After playing in Wyoming’s bowl game, Pregnon entered the portal and was rated a 4-star transfer value. He became the starting left guard at USC in 2023 and 2024 and took every rep at the same spot over the last two years, missing just a few garbage time snaps and an occasional drive with a minor ding. Pregnon was the only Trojan lineman with anywhere close to this kind of stability – every other spot on the line had either three or four different starters with at least 65 meaningful reps apiece over these two seasons, as USC was constantly testing out different configurations to try and experiment its way out of a decade of offensive line mismanagement. Shortly after USC’s bowl game this year, Pregnon entered the portal and transferred to Oregon. He has one year to play one of eligibility remaining.

Pregnon’s arrival in Los Angeles in 2023 came at a crossroads for USC’s offensive line unit. Coach Riley had inherited a group of seniors who made up the balance of starters and backups in 2022, but didn’t recruit a single prep offensive lineman in that year’s cycle. Pregnon was one of a trio of highly rated o-line transfers who were clearly brought in to be new starters, a move celebrated by some but viewed more skeptically by those familiar with the empirical data on the portal effect’s dragdown of transfer o-linemen’s grades and that it compounds with each additional starter directly out of the portal. The results in 2023 were clear as even led by a Heisman-winning quarterback with preternatural scrambling ability, the Trojans flamed out to a 5-loss season – as always, math is undefeated.

USC had an interesting and in many ways contradictory season in 2024, as they were fundamentally stronger even as their roster talent receded from its peaks, and performed more consistently even as they choked away more games they should have won – I’ll explore these issues more fully in my preview of the Trojans’ 2025 team later this offseason. Restricting ourselves to the o-line for the moment, the intriguing thing is that Riley did what he probably should have from the get-go: bite the bullet and play just prep recruits and returners … although of course, the constant tinkering and rotation at every spot but left guard continued. Since Pregnon was the only transfer in the lineup and he was on his second year in LA the portal effect disappeared, and consistent with the data at every other school, the line’s overall grades improved.

Pregnon’s grades improved as well, as would be expected of a multiple-year starter enjoying that kind of stability. While his error rates in pass protection on my tally sheet worsened from 12.33% in the games I charted in 2022 at Wyoming to 13.43% when he transferred to USC in 2023, they improved to 11.86% — his best of his career and very close to the Oregon standard of 10% — in his most recent season in 2024 in LA.

There was a similar pattern with Pregnon’s run blocking on my tally sheet, but more extreme as Riley’s unique run scheme had quite a learning curve, and with more significant issues having to do with finishing blocks to work on throughout his career. I graded him with a 20.81% error rate run blocking at Wyoming, which also got worse when he transferred to 25.64% in 2023 (a very poor number but astonishingly the least bad of any of the Trojans’ interior linemen that year), but stabilized at 19.14% in 2024.

It’s clear from the three years of tape I’ve watched on Pregnon — and the confidence that multiple coaches have shown in him as a stable starter — that he’s physically very well developed with a great frame and a natural for the position. He’s also an experienced veteran and I have virtually no assignment errors in run blocking in 2022 or 2024, once he had a chance to get those offenses’ blocking schemes down. While the error rates that I have for Pregnon in run blocking are surprisingly high for a player with his assets, they’re overwhelmingly technical in nature, not physical, and furthermore he almost always starts out pretty well and the reason I wind up dinging him is how he controls or finishes the block. Here are some representative examples from last year in USC’s power scheme:

(Reminder – you can use the button in the lower right corner to control playback speed)

:00 – Pregnon is in jersey #70 at LG as in all clips. Riley is one of the few coaches who runs a genuine read option from a power scheme, eliminating the backside OLB while the guards pin the DTs, the LT gets the frontside end, and the RT and C pull through. Pregnon’s block starts out great, driving the big tackle back two yards with his hat playside and in control. But he’s leaning over instead of driving and turning to finish the block, and winds up surrendering leverage.
:08 – Tough assignment here, he’s got to reach across the nose, but lunging like this with a bent waist and hands striking to the chest is a recipe to get olé’d. Feet have to get there first.
:13 – This is the correct man and correct leverage, footwork is good, but when he makes contact his back is curved and his hips aren’t loaded, so he can’t use his power while the DT can throw him off balance.
:18 – What a great block – explodes low to high with a flat back, nice wide base, continual leg drive to reposition and turn away from the run, total control of a big DT.

And the Trojans’ zone scheme in 2024:

:00 – The first four steps of Pregnon’s block are just about perfect, he’s got his leverage correct and he’s turning and driving the DT from the gap. But then instead of finishing by working his base around, he brings both his feet back upfield and tries to wrestle the defender from his tiptoes using just his upper body, which will never work. The DT rips free easily and wraps both arms around the RB going through the lane.
:06 – Great pickup on the backside block here, Maryland likes to mix up which side they twist from so in zone he had to be ready for either one. Totally walls off the end.
:13 – This is the correct guy to block in zone (which isn’t a given, there are a lot of moving pieces on this one) and Pregnon is showing a lot of power and explosion from his base and a good flat back, but he needs to be attacking the inside shoulder, not outside. The DT is never going to bite on an influence step with the RB in that kind of width, he’s going inside straight away and Pregnon needs to get there first.
:26 – Now look at this footwork, great shuffle step, hits the inside shoulder and keeps working, turns the big DT all the way around for a clean run up the left A-gap.

Pregnon moves pretty well beyond the line of scrimmage and I have very little in the way of assignment errors or getting physically beat when moving up to block at the second level in any of the three years I’ve watched his tape. There are a few technical matters to hone, which are fairly similar to the previous stuff – better footwork to not get caught up with the d-line so he can more quickly get to the second level, more consistently playing with the right leverage, and finishing blocks with good leg drive. Some examples:

:00 – I will admit to including this clip because I’ve watched it about a hundred times as both teams are doing very oddball things schematically: a jailhouse run blitz including the CB which the WR identifies, the QB probably blowing the RPO read, and the backside slot and H-back coming around the top and underneath to try and hit frontside defenders. Anyway, Pregnon is supposed to hit the backside LB but the frontside LB, who’s the LT’s guy, bumps into him due to the blitz, and to his credit and the point he shoves that guy off and keeps going to actually block the backside LB.
:11 – On this wide zone play, Pregnon is meant to get a good shove in on the DT to hand him off to the LT so Pregnon’s freed to work up to the backer. It doesn’t work out that way, he’s stuck on the DT and the backer is clean.
:18 – This was a difficult play to grade because I think both teams are misplaying how it was drawn up. If it’s a designed strongside run as I suspect it makes sense for Pregnon to attack the backer’s inside shoulder but he still needs to keep his head up and engage patiently since he’s getting through the line without resistence; if it’s actually supposed to be weakside then he’s hitting the wrong shoulder entirely and whiffing like this is a predictable outcome.
:25 – Nice efficient movement on the interior pull and up to the backer, control and turn, clean lane for the back.

Pulling across the formation is a constant requirement for linemen in Riley’s scheme, especially considering the way he uses power runs (or the disguise of them) as the basis for his RPOs and many pass protection sets, and so we have a considerable amount of data on Pregnon moving laterally. He shows great athleticism and assignment awareness on all of these, with no problems whatsoever in getting to the block late, hitting the wrong guy, or putting a wimpy hit on him as I’ve seen with some other less physically gifted linemen or those who’ve transferred into a pull-heavy scheme and are unfamiliar with the job. Again, to the extent that any issues show up on my tally sheet they’re technical, having to do with making contact with the wrong shoulder or not finishing the block properly. Some examples:

:00 – The end sees the pull coming and initiates the hit before Pregnon has his feet set for it, they’re still crossed when he tries to anchor himself and he gets tripped up.
:07 – Good patience here, the OLB wants to wrong-arm him but Pregnon takes just a beat and lets his feet settle at the end of the pull so he controls the block, turning the defender away by driving him through the contact.
:15 – This game, even this same drive, was very up and down for Pregnon’s pulls. On this one he does great, hitting the downfield shoulder of the OLB and continuing to work his legs.
:21 – Watch the difference in Pregnon’s feet here at the moment of contact, he’s leaning forward with all his weight on his left leg, and his posture is upfield not downfield of the defender. The OLB is able to bend and bounce off harmlessly, and is in position to wrap up the RB.

Pregnon has been very effective in pass protection at both schools, and a standout in two ways – first, on any given lineup he was head-and-shoulders the best pass blocker, even as a redshirt freshman compared to the tackles at Wyoming who were both four-year starters; second, while the portal effect inevitably hit him when he started at USC, its hit on his pass-pro grades was on the low end of the spectrum — only about a point and a half in error rate which isn’t too bad — and he’d recovered almost all of it by the end of the season.

In dropback pass-pro, Pregnon shows a full toolkit for defeating pass rush moves from d-linemen with excellent strength and balance. The only technical matter I’ve observed that needs some polish is footwork on long-sustained blocks getting static instead of maintaining the same high level to keep his platform centered all the way through. Here’s a representative sample from last year:

:00 – There’s an impressive amount of USC in this play but try to just focus on the great job Pregnon is doing with the end. Firm control of the chestplate despite those long arms from the defender and a strong base means he never has a chance through a protracted fight.
:18 – This play has a real showcase of moves from both sides – Pregnon gets inside the defender’s guard to control the chestplate which stymies the initial rush, the defender tries a lift and rake but Pregnon redirects and neutralizes it with another chest strike as he’s changing his balance with good independent lower body control. We get a nice replay because of UW’s bonkers luck on the deflection pick, try to ignore that, although Pregnon almost gets the strip going for the tackle.
:38 – On this slide protect Pregnon gets a big multi-year starter who’s always graded very highly for me (he’s only recently started charging up the draft boards, I wonder what’s taken those guys so long). The play design overall has a lot going on but Pregnon’s job is fairly straightforward, slide fast and pick up the DT who’s following the RG, and win the strength battle. We get a nice replay angle showing Pregnon keeping his weight centered, while the QB’s throwing motion leaves as much to be desired as the Memorial Coliseum crowd.
:55 – The first two seconds of this block are great but Pregnon lets his technique slip when dealing with the inside move, rather than keep his base moving to cut off the DT he freezes his feet and leans over. Now he’s off-balance and the DT pulls off an outside spin and gets past as the QB scrambles, setting up a sack.

Against more complicated pass rushes, Pregnon grades out pretty well, which I was surprised by given the trust it requires in his teammates. The added challenges here of recognition, communication, and positioning didn’t really affect Pregnon’s grades significantly as he handled those things just fine, and the strengths and weaknesses in this area are similar to everything else discussed so far – great physical talent and assignment soundness, could use a bit more patience in his footwork. Some examples going up against stunts and simulated pressures:

:00 – Here the defense is overloading the offense’s right while the LT widens out on the overhang backer, so Pregnon has the end crashing hard trying to split them. He has to suddenly shift over from the DT he was expecting and his feet aren’t really right for it, so he reacts fast and runs him out the back of the pocket instead.
:05 – Nice job on the tackle stunt, a shove of the first guy in to help the right side but doesn’t over-commit and gets his weight back for the second guy, control through multiple hops.
:13 – Pregnon and the LT see this sim coming, and the handoff should be handled smoothly, but Pregnon is wasting time with a hand on the DT (a converted OL transfer from Miami) whom the center has no trouble with and he doesn’t gain any depth, and winds up getting knocked over because he’s too high for it.
:21 – Tony White’s defense has a lot of visual distractions in their pressures, it’s tough to classify this as T-E or E-T on the offense’s left. The DT makes the initial contact but the purpose is to get the DE to cut in to occupy the LT and LG so the DT can cut around and get to the QB. At any rate, Pregnon handles all of it quite well, getting the DT onto the center and then the DE from the LT with no lost ground.

And here’s Pregnon facing blitzes:

:00 – The nickel is in press here and his ants in the pants gives the blitz away a bit. The line slides over to handle it well, Pregnon hands off the backer to the center to pick him up, with a lot of lateral movement to get his angle right.
:19 – The blitz is overloading the offense’s left. The LT has the outermost rusher no matter what, and Pregnon has the next gap over. That means he shouldn’t be losing patience and punching forward on the standup end crowding the line – he’s scary but often the bait, as PSU’s film showed – and doing so leaves the gap wide open for the safety to shoot in unopposed and flush the QB (although PSU’s film also showed their DBs can’t cover).
:25 – Maryland sends two linebackers one after the other at Pregnon on this blitz; both bounce off him like tennis balls hitting a brick wall.
:32 – This was about the time I started to doubt that USC actually had planned blitz pickups from the center (whom they converted from a tackle for this season) and instead theorized that each side is doing their thing independently, since Pregnon and the LT are completely in sync about the end and overhang backer, while the rest have misidentified the RB pursuit and blow the twist.

There was one curious development on Pregnon’s tape when he got to USC that I didn’t notice at Wyoming, which is that on many pass-pro reps he’d spend most of the time looking over at the left tackle seeing if he needed help. This isn’t very common from guards, though I have seen it before – future Oregon transfers Junior Angilau at Texas did it a lot (he’s #75 in these clips, first at RG then LG) and Matthew Bedford at Indiana did it a bit. Pregnon was usually so thoroughly in control of his own block that he could do it one-handed and distracted so this didn’t really present any problems, and given that this was USC his teammate did in fact require help pretty often. I can’t say whether Oregon’s coaches are keen, hostile, or neutral to this but I thought it was an interesting pattern regardless. Here are some examples:

:00 – I’m not wild about leaving your spot, especially when the LT doesn’t really need any help, but there’s no actual downside here – everybody else is contained, the defense is backed out, and no green dogs are coming … so, alright, knock him out.
:15 – The DE/OLB Tunuufi is an order of magnitude more dangerous than the DT Bandes so Pregnon’s threat recognition is on point in leaving off the combo on the latter and going to help the LT with the former. Of course there’s nothing he can do about the greatest danger of all, which is the QB rifling the ball directly into the LB’s hands, my stars.
:28 – The right side is supposed to look like the left side on this, with the RT taking whoever the outermost guy is no matter the stunt, the RG gaining depth to pick up whoever comes behind, and the C taking the immediate interior rusher, so the flush that actually happens is on those guys. What I’m interested in is that Pregnon is locked onto the off-ball backer and his potential to blitz so as to help the LT, even as that guy bails into coverage. If everybody had done their jobs right he’d be responsible for the boundary end (#97) coming around instead of the RG and he barely sees him.
:40 – In the bowl game USC had to change out both tackles for freshmen (plus the center for a redshirt sophomore with next to no experience), and Pregnon showed even more of this tendency. He really couldn’t take his eyes off the kiddo for most reps he in which he didn’t have his hands totally full, like this one where he peels off to hit the end the LT is struggling with to give the QB a chance to scramble around for a while, then goes and finds that end to hit him some more.

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