Height: 6’2 1/4″
Weight: 241
40 Time:
Position: OLB
College: Southern California
Birthdate:
Hometown: Lake Mary, Fla.

NFL Draft Scouting Report

All-American … Potential first rounder … Leadership … Good size … Could play in a 3-4 or 4-3 system … Pretty good in coverage, although technically could be better … Rated as the top OLB by Mike Mayock of NFL Network … Impressive week at the Senior Bowl … Takes on blockers well … Good lateral movement along the line … Great speed … Sideline to sideline pursuit … Great coverage and diving pass breakup against Washington in 2006 and also nearly had an interception, got some pressure on the QB and made a tackle for a loss as the QB was flushed from the pocket … Made a sack on 3rd and goal at the 9 versus Oregon State in 2006 and also pressured the QB up the middle but he escaped … Showed good hustle as he was upended but still got up to make tackle … Active game against the run versus Oregon in 2006 and got good pressure to blow up a fourth down play … Also twice made stops on catches underneath shy of the first down marker, with one big hit … Got some good pressure against Cal in 2006 and also stuffed a QB sneak on third and short, but botched a good chance for a fumble recovery … Had a big hit in the hole to force a fumble at the 5 against ND in 2006 and had a half sack negated by a penalty … Delivered big hit on WR, but was harshly called for a helmet-to-helmet penalty … Stuffed a couple of runs in the hole against UCLA in 2006 and made a key stop on 3rd and goal to force a late FG

College career

2007

v Nebraska: Started … Big hit on opening kickoff … Big hit in hole … Almost made low diving interception … Stepped up to wrap up runner in hole // v UW: Good hustle and speed to sideline to haul down QB short of first down, although it would have been a horse collar tackle in the NFL … Leapt up to deflect pass late in fourth // v Arizona: Recovered fumble by TE in first … Good blitz, but QB got away from him … Forced RB to reverse field and made tackle for big loss … Good strength to wrap up and take down runner up the middle … Wrapped up RB for no gain after pass to flat

Rivers started for his third season at weakside linebacker as a senior in 2007 and turned in an All-American season. Overall in 2007 while starting 12 games (he missed the Arizona State game with a sprained left ankle suffered at California), he had 78 tackles (second on USC), including 5 for losses of 15 yards, plus 4 deflections, a team-high 3 fumble recoveries and 1 forced fumble. He was 1 of 10 semifinalists for the 2007 Butkus Award and 1 of 17 quarterfinalists for the Lott Trophy, as well as an SI.com All-American first team, Pro Football Weekly All-American first team, Walter Camp All-American second team, Phil Steele’s All-American third team and Collegefootballnews.com All-American honorable mention pick. Rivers was named to the 2007 All-Pac-10 first team (for the second year in a row), ESPN.com All-Pac-10 first team, Collegefootballnews.com All-Pac-10 first team and Phil Steele’s All-Pac-10 first team. He was a USC team captain. He won USC’s Co-Lifter of the Year Award. He was a Senior Bowl invitee. He was named to the 2007 Playboy Pre-Season All-American team. He had arthroscopic surgery on his left ankle to remove bone spurs following 2007 spring practice.

He had a team-best 6 tackles with a deflection versus Idaho, a game-high 10 tackles with a deflection at Nebraska and a game-best 14 tackles against Washington State (the most by a Trojan since Lofa Tatupu had 14 versus Oregon State in 2003) with 2.5 for a loss. He then had 4 tackles and a deflection at Washington, 6 stops and a deflection against Stanford, 6 tackles (1 for a loss)and a fumble recovery at Arizona and a tackle and fumble recovery at Notre Dame. He had 12 tackles at Oregon, a team-best 7 tackles against Oregon State, 4 stops at California and 3 tackles, including 1 for a loss in which he forced and recovered a fumble (to set up a USC TD) against UCLA. He had 5 tackles (0.5 for a loss) against Illinois.

2006

Rivers started for his second season at weakside linebacker as a junior in 2006 and proved to be a dominant force. Overall in 2006 while appearing in all 13 games, he had a team-high 85 tackles, including 7.5 for losses of 22 yards (with 2 sacks for minus 9 yards), plus a team-best 3 forced fumbles, a fumble recovery and 2 deflections. He made the 2006 Pro Football Weekly All-American honorable mention, All-Pac-10 first team, ESPN.com All-Pac-10 first team, Rivals.com All-Pac-10 first team and Scout.com All-Pac-10 second team. He won USC’s Bob Chandler Award.

He had a team-best 8 tackles, with a fumble recovery and forced fumble, at Arkansas to earn Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Week honors. He added 5 stops (with 1 for a loss) versus Nebraska, 3 tackles (with a sack) at Arizona and 5 tackles at Washington State. He had a game-best 12 tackles (1 for a loss), plus 2 deflections, against Washington and a team-best 8 tackles (1 for a loss) against Arizona State. He had 5 tackles (with a sack) at Oregon State, 5 more tackles and forced a fumble that USC recovered at Stanford and a game-best 10 tackles against Oregon. He made 6 tackles (0.5 for a loss) against California, 4 stops (1 for a loss) and forced a fumble that USC recovered versus Notre Dame and 5 tackles (1 for a loss) at UCLA. He had a game-best 9 tackles against Michigan.

2005

Rivers started at weakside linebacker job as a sophomore in 2005 and proved effective. Overall in 2005 while starting 11 games (he missed the Stanford game with a hamstring strain suffered prior to the Washington game and then the UCLA game after re-straining his hamstring against Fresno State), he had 52 tackles, including 3 for losses of 17 yards (with an 11-yard sack), plus had a team-best 2 fumble recoveries and returned an interception 14 yards. He saw limited action at Washington because of the hamstring strain, then re-strained it early in the Fresno State contest and was sidelined. He made 2005 All-Pac-10 honorable mention. He had 3 tackles at Hawaii, 7 against Arkansas, 8 (with 2 for losses) at Oregon and 6 at Arizona State. He added a stop against Arizona, then a game-best 12 tackles (with a sack), plus an interception (to set up a USC TD) and fumble recovery, at Notre Dame. He made 1 tackle at Washington before sitting out with the sore hamstring and another tackle versus Washington State in restricted play before sitting out the Stanford contest. He returned to get 6 tackles with a fumble recovery at California, then had 2 tackles in limited action versus Fresno State. He made 5 tackles against Texas.

2004

Rivers saw significant playing time as a backup weakside linebacker behind Matt Grootegoed, as a defensive end in pass rushing situations and on special teams as a first-year freshman in 2004. Overall in 2004 while appearing in all 13 games, he had 25 tackles, including 3 for losses of 23 yards (with 2.5 sacks for 22 yards), plus had a deflection and returned an interception 22 yards. He made the 2004 The Sporting News Freshman All-Pac-10 first team. He had 5 tackles against Colorado State, 4 versus Washington (with the interception) and Oklahoma and 3 against Stanford and Arizona.

High School Career

His 2003 honors included USA Today All-USA first team, Parade All-American, Super Prep All-American, Prep Star All-American, EA Sports All-American, Insiders.com All-American, Super Prep Elite 50, Prep Star Top 100 Dream Team, Lemming Top 100, Super Prep All-Dixie, Prep Star All-Southeast, FOX Sports Net All-South, Gatorade Florida Player of the Year and Florida Class 6A Mr. Football runnerup as a senior linebacker at Lake Mary (Fla.) High. He had 111 tackles, 14 tackles for loss, 2 sacks and 2 interceptions in 2003. As a junior in 2002, he was a Student Sports Junior All-American and Florida Class 5A second team honoree as he posted 160 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, 4 sacks and 2 interceptions. He made All-State as a sophomore in 2001 when he had 100-plus tackles.

Background

He’s a public policy, management and planning major at USC. He was born in Riverside (Calif.) and lived in nearby San Bernardino for 8 years during his youth.