Joel Klatt understands that one of the biggest questions for USC this season is how much improvement is made for Alex Grinch and the defense.

The FOX Sports analyst believes that coach Lincoln Riley has built the same high-powered offense that he had at Oklahoma, but the same questions persist about struggles on defense.

“Are you good enough on defense,” Klatt said. “Do you play requisite defense to win a championship? And up to this point, the answer was no.”

That changed with the additions of Bear Alexander from Georgia, Anthony Lucas from Texas A&M and Mason Cobb from Oklahoma State.

About Grinch himself, Klatt raised the issue about whether he’s capable of still being the defensive coordinator.

“We’re gonna find out,” Klatt said. “Because I do think that they’ve got really good players, based on what happened in the transfer portal.”

But the improvements on defense and Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams are why Klatt has USC at No. 6 in his post-spring Top 25.