An interesting comparison for WR Drake London, plus more opportunity at TE

USC is experimenting a little this spring with its wide receiver and tight end alignments, most notably using junior standout Drake London primarily at outside receiver after he's established himself as a dominant weapon at the inside Y position the last two years.

Part of that, it seems, is a function of the Trojans being thin at receiver this spring due to injury, other absences and a couple freshmen not arriving until summer, and the offense as a result is using more two-tight end, 12-personnel sets with the TEs working those inside routes.

But with Amon-Ra St. Brown and Tyler Vaughns off to the next level, there also seems to be genuine intrigue about seeing what London can do as an outside receiver -- at least this spring.

Wide receivers coach Keary Colbert talked about it last week, and on Tuesday tight ends coach Seth Doege -- who works closely with offensive coordinator Graham Harrell in general -- added some intriguing perspective on the matter.

"Obviously, he's a freak and we want to move him around as much as possible. So playing in 12 allows us to move him around to the outside position more, get creative in that standpoint and he's done a really good job," Doege said. "I tell Graham this all the time, and obviously Graham and I are the only ones who can really relate to this because we've seen it in person, but Drake London really reminds me of Michael Crabtree when he's on the outside. It kind of correlates because both of them were really good basketball players so they have extremely good body control."

Crabtree was the star wide receiver at Texas Tech in 2007-08 when he tallied 231 catches for 3,127 yards and 41 touchdowns over two seasons before leaving as a first round NFL draft pick.

Harrell was the quarterback those two seasons, and Doege was a redshirt QB in 2008 who worked with Crabtree in practice. He expounded on the comparison he sees between the two wideouts (though London at 6-foot-5 is listed as four inches taller than Crabtree).

"We want to be really good on slants and fades, especially against man coverage. And it's really hard to guard Drake London when he's outside running a slant or fade right now. I remember that was Crabtree's deal too -- you couldn't guard him on a slant, you couldn't guard him on a fade," Doege said. "They weren't burners. Neither one of them are extremely fast players, but they're big, physical, very competitive with extremely good body control and body positioning players. It was always funny because every time I see him run a route, I'm like man, that looks very eerily similar to Crab, and obviously Crab had a ton of success in the system so there's something to be said for finding ways to keep Drake outside."

Ultimately, though, once the season comes around will the Trojans really consider moving London out of the inside receiver role that he dominated last season with 33 catches for 502 yards and 3 TDs over six games?

The Trojans will presumably have a fuller receiving corps by then. Redshirt sophomore Bru McCoy, who is ticketed for one of those outside WR spots, is expected to join spring practice this week after being unavailable the first two weeks due to health protocols.

Between McCoy, sophomore Gary Bryant Jr. and impression freshman Michael Jackson III, the Trojans have some very solid options there as is, with Colorado transfer K.D. Nixon and ultimately Memphis transfer Tahj Washington (who has not formally joined USC yet) as options in the slot along with junior John Jackson III. Add in Rivals100 standout Kyron Ware-Hudson and high-upside 3-star prospect Joseph Manjack as incoming freshmen this summer, along with redshirt sophomore Kyle Ford if he is cleared physically after working back from a second ACL surgery, and there are plenty of options on the horizon.

Right now, though, it makes sense to at least see what London looks like in one of those outside roles. And it's not unnatural to him, as he was strictly an outside receiver in high school.

Actually doing it in games this fall is another story, though.

"I think it just depends on what we're trying to do, how we're trying to attack the defense and where we feel our best matchups are," Doege said. "Because you still do have Bru, he's just now coming back to practice. We'd like to see where he's at and how he develops from an outside perspective, and Gary is obviously making some big-time strides at the other spot too. So you don't want to take a good player off the field either, but we have to figure out where we can manipulate and create some mismatches for Drake.

"But just like you were saying, he's a really good Y, and the position he's been playing the last couple years he's kind of dominated. So you've got to be smart when you move him around, but as long as you feel like you have a really good player at the Y position and we feel like we can find a mismatch on the outside then let's go expose that as well."

If London were to play on the outside some this fall, that would be the avenue toward getting the tight ends more involved in the passing game, with a TE presumably filling those pass-catching opportunities inside.

The most intriguing of those options might be the one who hasn't arrived yet -- four-star Rivals100 tight end prospect Michael Trigg, who will join the mix this summer.

So far, redshirt senior Erik Krommenhoek, freshman Lake McRee and redshirt sophomore Ethan Rae have gotten plenty of looks in those 12 personnel sets with walk-on Sean Mahoney also working on the two-deep right now, with redshirt sophomore Jude Wolfe out with injury so far this spring and redshirt senior Josh Falo missing the last few practices due to injury.

"The tight end group has actually saved us a lot," Doege said. "We’re down at receiver right now from a numbers standpoint, so we’re having to play a lot of 11 and 12 personnel. So they’re having to learn three positions, whether it be the two inside positions or the tight end spot, which we call the H spot. They’ve done a phenomenal job of setting the standard in that room and what it’s supposed to look like. The best thing about it, like I said, is us getting reps. We’re getting reps we normally don’t get because of the numbers standpoint. Lots of guys getting lots of reps, getting a lot better. I think we’ve made a lot of strides. ...

"We can play 12 personnel and do everything we want to do. That’s just been proven over the spring, right here, right now. The numbers, we’re playing with two tight ends most of the time. We can do everything we want to do out of 10 personnel with 12. That makes us dangerous. Being able to go from a pass-game set to a run-game set and not change personnel, if we can find two tight ends that we feel really good about, man, watch out. It’s going to be dangerous."

Here's what Doege said about a few of those guys individually:

Krommenhoek, the incumbent starter: "EK has probably had the best spring so far. Honestly, he’s probably playing the best football right now I’ve ever seen him play. He’s really made a huge step up. If you were going to vote on probably the most improved player through six practices, he’s probably top of the list. He’s playing at an extremely high level right now. We feel really good about EK."

McRee, the early enrollee freshman: "Probably the most intriguing guy we’ve seen so far in my room is Lake McRee. For him being basically a [high school] senior still, he’s very instinctive when it comes to football. He has a great feel in space, especially at the receiver position when we put him in the slot. His only deal is we have to develop his body, let him mature physically. He doesn’t have a problem throwing his body around because he’s fearless, but we have to put a little more mass on him, just to protect him a little bit, give him a chance to have success down there."

Rae, who has missed the last two seasons due to injury: "He's done some really good things and then obviously there's some things where you're like, 'Man, this guy hasn't played football in two years.' So you just gotta give him some grace. But one thing about Ethan that I love about that dude is in the meetings he is constantly taking notes. Everything you say, he's writing down. So you can tell that it means a lot to him. And then actually he's got extremely good ball skills So there's been some times where he's had to make adjustment catches whether it be behind him and he can really put his nose to the ball and really turn his body and make those catches look easy. And then when he gets out and runs, man, it's fast. He's a lot faster than I thought so he can really run. Obviously we're continuing to train him just by playing football again really and really putting his face on somebody and getting hit in the head again, so it's a process and he knows that and he's made strides every practice."

Looking ahead: "Obviously adding Michael Trigg come fall and the summer puts a little more pressure on those guys to continue to get better. I feel really good about the room and where we’re going, and we’ll find two guys that can do it, for sure."