USC safety-turned-linebacker Anthony Beavers Jr. primed to step up vs. Minnesota

LOS ANGELES — Normally, D’Anton Lynn could simply point at his sideline and signal next man up. Normally, injury would simply elevate a lower name on the depth chart, and coaches could simply dust off their hands and hope for the best.

Eric Gentry, however, is far from normal.

“You don’t really have a backup Eric,” Lynn smiled, after USC’s practice on Wednesday. “There’s no one else that can do all the stuff that he does.”

That much has been clear since the defensive coordinator’s second practice at USC, when Lynn looked at the Slinky-armed inside linebacker and realized he might just be a weapon off the edge, too. That much was still clear, on USC’s practice field on Wednesday, as Gentry towered over the rest of the linebacker group in sunglasses and black street clothes.

And Lynn might, likely, be forced to reckon with the reality of not having Gentry for USC’s trip to Minnesota this weekend, a versatile senior finally turned loose by a coordinator who has continued to find new Swiss Army tools to pull from his limbs. Gentry has hunted heads at middle linebacker, racking up 30 tackles and 6½ tackles for loss in four games. He has dropped back into coverage, with a pass deflection. He has been sent careening off the edge, with a team-high two sacks and a forced fumble.

He was carted off in the fourth quarter of USC’s victory over Wisconsin last weekend, though, stalling the momentum of an All-American-level start. Head coach Lincoln Riley deemed Gentry questionable against Minnesota (2-3 overall, 0-2 Big Ten), a reality that suddenly could leave 11th-ranked USC (3-1, 1-1) thin at inside linebacker, with Raesjon Davis opting to redshirt his senior season.

“We gotta put other guys in position to make that play,” senior linebacker Mason Cobb said after Wednesday’s practice.

There may be no backup Eric, indeed. But the closest fit on the roster, ultimately, could be redshirt junior Anthony Beavers Jr., a Baldwin Hills native who received spot playing time in 2023. Cobb said Beavers had been working in Gentry’s spot, and he was seen Wednesday walking through a 4-3 alignment with Cobb and Oregon State transfer Easton Mascarenas-Arnold, a three-linebacker system Lynn deployed frequently with Gentry in USC’s win over Michigan two weeks ago.

Here’s the catch – Beavers is a safety. Or has been, at least, through his three prior years in USC’s program. His size and frame, though, at 6-foot-1 and 215 pounds, lends well to a weakside linebacker role, and Beavers has spent his time in Lynn’s system cycling through as many spots as anyone on the roster: safety, dime, nickel, Sam linebacker, Will linebacker.

“It’s definitely something that’s fun, just being able to show off your versatility,” Beavers said during USC’s preseason media day. “Something that can help your stock within the team.”

The former Narbonne High product’s stock has steadily risen, for more than versatility, another former Clay Helton-era local recruit who has stuck in USC’s locker room. From the day Lynn arrived, the defensive coordinator said Tuesday, he felt Beavers’ influence over the program.

“The players in the locker room absolutely love him,” Lynn said Wednesday. “He does everything how it’s supposed to be done.”

It’s possible, too, that true-freshman Desman Stephens II could earn some snaps if Gentry’s absent, a Michigan product who Cobb called a “guy you can put on that field quick.”

“He came in, was very well-rounded as a linebacker,” Cobb said. “You get guys that are young, and their stance is all messed up, backpedal’s messed up, stuff like that. And he was well-rounded for coming in early.”

Stephens II, though, has been sticking at Mike linebacker, Lynn made clear. Beavers offers a versatility similar to Gentry that no other potential linebacker on USC’s roster can quite touch – and was tabbed a captain, too, before USC’s victory over Wisconsin.

“He’s a leader, man,” Cobb said of Beavers. “He’s always been a leader in that safety room. In that linebacker room, now.”