NFL draft: USC’s Calen Bullock, MarShawn Lloyd selected in 3rd round

LOS ANGELES — Five and a half years ago, MarShawn Lloyd was marooned on the sidelines when heartbreak hit, unable to change the outcome that flew from the fingertips of one Caleb Williams.

They future USC teammates grew up around each other in the DMV area, knowing of each other since days in Little League, turning into competitors when rival high schools DeMatha Catholic and Gonzaga College High met in the 2018 Western Catholic Athletic Conference final. And in one of the greatest championship finishes in recent prep sports memory, Gonzaga College’s Williams somehow stepped up and lobbed a 53-yard Hail Mary with time expiring to stun DeMatha, putting an abrupt and direct end to Lloyd’s junior season of high school football.

“I will never forget that,” Lloyd said, during fall training camp, before he ever donned a USC game jersey. “That’s something I remember from Caleb forever.”

And Lloyd and Williams reunited at USC this past fall, Lloyd transferring in after two seasons at South Carolina, the two authoring some offensive magic together during an otherwise-rocky season. Their paths seemed to split, as both headed to the NFL draft and were largely away from USC by December – only to converge again in a beautiful twist of fate, two DMV kids destined to meet in the next chapter.

On Friday night, the Green Bay Packers selected Lloyd with their third-round pick (No. 88 overall) – meaning Lloyd will spend the foreseeable future matching up on opposing sidelines against Williams twice a year, the quarterback taken by longtime NFC North rival Chicago Bears with the first overall pick.

“We had a crazy rivalry at my school,” Lloyd said of his and Williams’ prep programs, back in the fall. And the rivalry dawns again, years later, at the highest level.

And Lloyd, a riser throughout the pre-draft process, has a shot at becoming a highly productive NFL back, with a prototypical bowling ball frame (5-foot-9, 221 pounds) and natural acceleration (4.46 40-yard dash). He’ll have to compete for time immediately in Green Bay, as the Packers lost longtime back Aaron Jones to Minnesota this offseason but signed former Las Vegas Raiders running back Josh Jacobs to a four-year deal.

Lloyd, though, offers a sheer efficiency coming from the college level that Green Bay’s backfield doesn’t have. Jacobs is a high-volume power back who struggled to 3.5 yards per carry last season; Packers incumbent back AJ Dillon, too, averaged just 3.4 yards per carry. Lloyd carries big-play potential as a complement, finding the gaps in Lincoln Riley’s offense at USC to the tune of 7.1 yards per carry, fifth in the country. He has shown flashes of pass-catching ability, too, a point he tried to emphasize in running routes for Williams at USC’s Pro Day in March.

“Just being able to be out here and catch the ball, something that I really wanted to show, and I think I showed that today,” Lloyd said then.

Just 10 spots in front of him in the third round Friday night, the Houston Texas picked up fellow USC product Calen Bullock, a lanky safety with natural burst and a nose for the ball that should translate well to the next level. He was an irreplaceable part of USC’s secondary for three seasons, named to the All-Pac-12 second team as a sophomore in 2022, when he intercepted five passes; in 2023, he led the Trojans with nine pass breakups.

His story stood on full display in a video captured by USC’s social team on draft night, a kid from Pasadena who has had “King villages” pinned in his bio – referring to an affordable-housing apartment complex in Pasadena – collapsing into his mother’s arms when his name was announced to the Texans.

“YeAAA!!!” USC defensive back John Humphrey tweeted Friday night, the fellow Pasadena product quoting a graphic of Bullock on the Texans’ Twitter account. “Made it out.”

Bullock could see his versatility tested in the NFL, as the Texans were widely perceived to be in need of cornerback help entering the draft; Bullock told reporters at USC’s Pro Day that teams had asked him before the draft if he could move to cornerback or nickel spots, where his speed and frame could translate well.

Lloyd and Bullock were USC’s only draft selections on Friday, with receivers Brenden Rice and Tahj Washington still waiting to hear their names called come Saturday.