Report: USC WR Gary Bryant Jr. Redshirting, Will 'Strongly Consider Transferring'

USC will be without wide receiver Gary Bryant Jr. for the rest of the season and perhaps beyond that.

Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley told reporters Bryant is expected to redshirt for the remainder of the 2022 campaign.

NFL Network's Ian Rapoport noted he "was a potential top prospect for this year's NFL Draft" and will "strongly consider transferring and will be highly sought after if/when he does."

Bryant arrived at USC as a 4-star prospect in the 2020 recruiting class, per 247Sports' composite rankings.

While he wasn't much of a contributor as a freshman, he turned the corner as a sophomore with 44 catches for 579 yards and seven touchdowns along with one rushing touchdown. He was third on the team in receiving yards and tied Drake London with the most touchdown catches.

Considering London is now on the Atlanta Falcons, Bryant seemed like a logical candidate to put up monster numbers in 2022.

Yet he had just two catches for 15 yards in USC's first three games even though the offense had no trouble scoring points in three blowout wins. He was behind Pittsburgh transfer Jordan Addison and Oklahoma transfer Mario Williams in the wide receiver pecking order and now may look elsewhere to continue his collegiate career.

The Trojans hit the transfer portal hard this offseason after hiring Riley away from Oklahoma, notably bringing in former Sooners quarterback Caleb Williams amid a number of moves.

Caleb Williams already had an established rapport with Mario Williams from their time in the Big 12, and Addison is arguably the best wide receiver in the country. That didn't leave much room for Bryant to take the next step from an individual perspective, and it appears his time at USC may be coming to a close.