Markese Stepp impressing, more two-back sets ahead for Trojans?

When USC coach Clay Helton talked to reporters Friday morning ahead of the Trojans' first practice, he sounded cautiously optimistic about running back Markese Stepp in his return from ankle surgery.

He wanted to see Stepp cut and move in the flow of practice before making any firm proclamations about the redshirt sophomore's outlook for fall camp.

Well, so far, so good.

"With Markese, I thought he looked really well. It's really kind of his first action of being able to put that foot in the ground, maneuver and cut. We had a limited plan for him, and actually he handled it so well we gave him a little bit more on Saturday, to be honest with you," Helton said Monday morning. "Visited with him this morning, he felt great after two days of work, so very positive to be honest with you on where he's at. He's one that we'll gauge over these next four weeks, but just early signs he looks healthy."

Stepp led USC running backs in yards per carry last season at 6.4 -- nearly a full yard more than Stephen Carr and Kenan Christon (both at 5.5) with leading overall rusher Vavae Malepeai (503 yards, 6 touchdowns) at 4.8 yards per carry.

Stepp only received double-digit carries in three games last season, but his usage was trending upward (in conjunction with injuries to Malepeai and Carr) when he landed awkwardly on his left ankle trying to avoid a defender against Arizona in mid-October.

The injury required surgery to repair torn ligaments and a long rehab to get to the point of that ankle feeling totally at full strength again.

One of the most intriguing storylines of this fall camp is going to be the running back group overall and how RBs coach Mike Jinks sets roles and divides touches once the season starts.

The Trojans never faced this full dilemma last year as Christon was an untested rookie until the other three older backs went down in the span of the same week, thrusting him into action. But it had already been a tough balance between Malepeai (who won the starting job out of camp last year), Carr and Stepp, who as a redshirt freshman received just 15 carries over the first four games despite maximizing those opportunities.

If all four are healthy by the season opener next month, how will the Trojans manage things in the backfield?

"One of the things we're working and I don't mind saying is, as you saw last year you've got to have backs -- it's the most physical and violent position on the football team when you're talking about getting tackled every time you touch the ball and the pass protection against guys like EA and those type of body types. So you have to have multiple guys, but the other thing that we're looking at also is having the ability to use two backs at one time and be a little bit of 20 personnel with three wides and two backs," Helton said. "It's a package that we've worked over the summer and can utilize at any time."

As Helton alluded, it's ultimately a great thing for USC to have such depth at the position after being decimated by injury last year, but it's a situation where all four guys are now established to varying degrees and will be expecting a worthwhile role in the offense.

Malepeai, now a redshirt senior, won over Jinks last spring and summer with his consistency and ability to execute all aspects of the position -- rushing, receiving and pass-blocking. Carr, now a senior, has been trying to shake off the injuries that have disrupted him on and off since his breakout true freshman season, but he nonetheless had 539 combined rushing and receiving yards and 6 TDs last fall. Stepp (307 rushing yards, 3 TDs) is simply a different kind of force among that group with his ability to create yards on his own and extend plays with his physicality. And Christon had 499 combined offensive yards and 5 TDs over the second half of the season while producing some of the longest scoring plays all year for the Trojans as perhaps the fastest player on the roster.

In the meantime, though, USC does not have all four backs healthy, as Malepeai is working through a hamstring injury, Helton said. The good news is that his surgically-repaired knee is not the issue.

"The knee is really good right now. He’s about full-go with the knee, but he has a little bit of a tight hamstring that we’re trying to get back into play," Helton said. "He’s been with our rehab specialists the majority of the time. Was really starting to look good, then tweaked a hammy. Nothing knee-wise. We’re really progressing in the right way there, but it’s going to take a little time to get the hamstring right. It’s been very positive. Actually talked to him on Saturday, and he’s been very pleased with how it’s gone down. Just getting him right for the season."

USC brought in six freshmen offensive linemen in this last recruiting class, and Helton and offensive line coach Tim Drevno have both said they're going to need one of two guys from that group to emerge as key depth this season for a unit that is already razor thin at tackle.

USC also had redshirt seniors Bernard Schirmer and Frank Martin opt out of the season. While neither were likely to earn a major role, it further compounded the depth concerns up front.

So Helton was asked Monday about his early thoughts on the young OL group.

"I think one of the biggest silver linings of this whole thing, it's a logistical nightmare what we're going through right now with four different fields being worked and spreading everybody out, but the silver lining in it is we're really getting to two-spot a lot of our team activity, which is getting those young kids reps and tape for us to evaluate as well as coach off of. So that's kind of been the silver lining," Helton said. "Two kids that have jumped out to me right off the bat are Jonah Monheim and Courtland Ford. They've shown a good physical maturity right off the bat in being able to pick things up.

"But when you talk about those six I really think Casey Collier has a tremendously bright future -- almost 6-8 and moving extremely well. When he gains more strength in the weight room I think he's going to be a talented, talented individual. And you've got Caadyn Stephen, Andrew Milek and Andres Dewerk -- just big men. They're the future of this offensive line and we're very, very pleased with them. And we're fortunate right now to be able to get them the work they needed to be able to progress, because you're right, whether it's a two role, a rotation role, they're going to have to help out this year and being able to work them in teamwork has been valuable."

It's no surprise Monheim and Ford are emerging early from that group. They projected as the two most college-ready prospects of the group.

Redshirt sophomore cornerback Isaac Taylor-Stuart seems to have made a smooth recovery from knee surgery, after tearing ligaments in the bowl game last December.

"I think really his burst is back, his speed is back," Helton said. "Again, those OTAs really provided him confidence going into training camp. It allowed us to go at a nice pace for him. He's a kid that hits 22 miles an hours, so straight line it looks like the burst is back. I'm looking forward to seeing more of the change of direction over the next four weeks, but initially very positive signs on both kids."

Taylor-Stuart is expected to split time with sophomore Chris Steele at the boundary corner position this year, with junior Olaijah Griffin projected as the primary field corner.

USC had its first two practices Friday and Saturday, but per NCAA rules could only be in helmets those first two sessions. After an off day Sunday, the Trojans will be in shells (shoulder pads and helmets) before ramping to their first full-pad practice Wednesday.

Due to campus COVID-19 protocols, media is not being allowed at practice (or even on campus) as of now.

"Two good days of practice for us installing basically our base packages over the first two days and going through the NCAA [acclimation] period," Helton said. "... Overall, I thought the energy was great the first two days. You could tell the kids just being out there, being all together and just playing for the love of the game was just awesome to see. You could also tell how much the OTAs, the two weeks leading up to being able to go out there and get some functional football movement, how that helped us both mentally and physically and really prepared us for our training camp, so I hope it's something the NCAA will consider moving forward because now having gone through it it's a great way to prepare for training camp both mentally and physically for these kids. It got us ahead.

"Looking at the first two days, I was very pleased not only with assignment-sound football, which I thought the OTAs gave us, but also just the energy that our kids brought and the competitiveness that our kids brought. And the best thing that happened was it was a clean day for us both days injury-wise so really no new injuries to report. It was a good weekend."

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