#77 Carver Willis — Starting right tackle Carver Willis (77) decided to take his talents elsewhere (Seattle), so now his number will go to incoming USC transfer guard Amos Talalele. Sounds like a great Left Coast trade to me! | Photo by Scott Winters/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

In which BracketCat counts down the 77th day until the 2025 kickoff with a profile of Kansas State offensive lineman Amos Talalele.

#77 Amos Talalele

Redshirt Sophomore | 6-4 | 375 lbs. | Santa Clara, California

Position: Offensive Line
Previous College: University of Southern California
Projection: Co-Second-String
Status: On Scholarship

Amos Talalele (b. March 7, 2005) is a massive offensive guard who transferred from USC in time to participate in spring practices. It’s hard not to see him making the two-deep this fall.

New offensive coordinator Matt Wells had high praise for Talalele and his fellow transfer:

George Fitzpatrick and Amos Talalele up front, I’m excited about both of those guys. They’ve had good springs and fit in well here in their roles.

Talalele, who is majoring in communications, first saw time for USC on field goal and extra point protection in the 2023 Holiday Bowl against Louisville as he retained his redshirt.

He played in seven games in 2024, including a start against Wisconsin, and saw action on 92 offensive snaps during the season, with 82 of those coming at right guard.

Talalele helped the Trojans to finish 17th nationally with only 1.15 sacks allowed per game.

He prepped under head coach Andrew Calderon at Santa Clara High School, where he was regarded as the 39th-best interior offensive lineman in the Class of 2023 by On3, while he was rated No. 43 by 247Sports, No. 45 by Rivals and No. 49 by ESPN.

On3 also viewed him as the 36th-best overall prospect in the state of California. And let me tell you, this boy can really move.

A four-time all-league performer who also once earned league Most Valuable Player honors, Talalele also was selected as a 2023 Polynesian Bowl All-Star Game participant.

He originally chose USC over offers from Arizona, California (to which he previously was committed), Colorado, Fresno State, Nevada, Oregon State, Utah and Washington.

Here is what new offensive line coach Brian Lepak had to say about his largest understudy:

Amos is a guy that, for me, is kind of fun in that we have some of these meetings and I tell him, “Tell me about this play.” Well, Amos’ head coach was Lincoln Riley. I’m asking questions of, “What were you taught here?” And I know exactly where he’s going to go with it. It’s fun to make that connection. I have a starting point with him because I have an idea what he was taught because Lincoln’s offense is Lincoln’s offense. I’m like, “I remember that.”