USC Freshman WR Makes Feelings on Jayden Maiava Clear After Lincoln Riley’s Honest Admission

A four-game starter in 2024 and a promise of 3,085 passing yards at UNLV still didn’t show the level of confidence that was expected from Jayden Maiava. Then, giving away 6 total picks, including two pick-sixes against Notre Dame, along with 5 sacks, didn’t work in favor of the QB either. Some even went as far as to predict that the QB had reached his ceiling. However, when the USC QB entered the 2025 offseason, he just had one objective: prove everyone wrong. Now, 3 games into the 2025 season, Jayden Maiava is unrecognizable, and his teammate has opened up the level of impact the guy is having on the locker room.

Ideally, for any QB looking to develop, the offseason involves mechanical fine-tuning, intense coaching focus, and physical training. Jayden, while he did all of that, took it up a notch, incorporating meditation in his routine and developing a reading habit. The book, Tim Grover’s Winning: The Unforgiving Race to Greatness, that Jayden read, has shown its impact since the USC QB has already notched 989 passing yards at an impressive 68.6% completion rate. But the biggest difference is still the leadership role he has taken on.

USC WR Tanook Hines, in his recent interview, was asked about his “relationship with Jayden so far,” and what the WR “likes about him.” Hines’ response? It showed just how much hard work Jayden has now put into his development. “Man, he’s a great quarterback and not just a great quarterback, he’s a great person. Like man, personality-wise, he’s a true leader on the field, like he tells everybody what to do,” replied Tanook Hines. In his true freshman season, Hines has recorded 55 receiving yards on 6 receptions so far, and with Jayden’s leadership, will truly develop into a world-class WR. As for Jayden, he is busy torching defenses.

In just his first game against Missouri State, Maiava recorded 295 passing yards along with a rushing touchdown in the red zone. The QB backed up his performance against Georgia Southern with a career-high 412 passing yards, showing incredible arm talent and pocket presence. By the time the Week 3 game came against Purdue, Jayden had found his rhythm and again passed for 282 yards along with a rushing touchdown. Now, one might surely argue about the performances coming against weaker teams, but what we have seen so far in Jayden is truly remarkable.

“I think he would say that he feels like it’s his team. I think he knows the guys better; he knows what he’s doing as a player better. It’s just a much different situation, so I just think there’s a different confidence and kind of swagger with him right now in the way he plays, the way he interacts with guys. The way he challenges guys, uplifts guys,” said Lincoln Riley on Jayden’s development. That confidence surely shows in his plays.

For instance, when Jayden connected a 40-yard screamer to Ja’Kobi Lane in the second quarter against Missouri State, that confidence showed. Not just that, we have seen his renewed ability to hit receivers accurately against a retreating secondary, along with his reliability in the red zone with his feet. Avoiding pressure is another aspect where Maiava seems to have improved massively,delivering from the pocket without any jitters we had seen from him in 2024. That said, there are still a few things Maiava must improve in his plays, according to Lincoln Riley.

Lincoln Riley is not impressed, despite a dominant outing against Purdue

USC played its first Big 10 opponent, Purdue, in Week 3 and came out with a 33-17 win. This was, of course, the first real test of Jayden Maiava’s abilities as he enabled Ja’Kobi Lane to receive 115 yards. Despite that, the offense slightly regressed, since USC capitalized on Ryan Browne’s pick and Jamaal Jarett returned it for a touchdown. If not for that, the scores would have been a lot narrower, and that worries Lincoln Riley.

“So we missed a couple of just easy completions just as an offense, not just him, not just the wide outs, just everybody as a whole got to be a little bit more crisp and in, and some of our route running and some of our just easier completions, especially in the second half,” said Lincoln Riley after the Week 3 game. Riley is rightly concerned since Maiava’s efficiency dropped from 73.8% to just 60.7% and the offense struggled in sustaining drives, relying on big plays.

Maybe Purdue head coach Barry Odom’s previous tenure at UNLV and coaching Jayden Maiava came in handy. But repeating the same mistakes, like limited red zone passing and giving away nine penalties for 103 yards, can become an issue against bigger opponents. Overall, the issues might have remained under the surface since Barry Odom is in his first season at Purdue and is still in the rebuilding process. However, without some improvements, USC might face difficulty against opponents like Illinois, Michigan, Notre Dame, Nebraska, and Oregon. That said, considering the work Jayden has done so far and the QB whisperer to support him, it should be a cakewalk.