USC won't have its first padded practice of spring until Saturday morning, so any early observations from the first two sessions earlier this week need to be kept in proper perspective -- especially with regard to the offensive line.

But that's one of the spotlight areas of interest this month, as the Trojans look to decide on a replacement for left tackle Alijah Vera-Tucker, and so everything will be highly scrutinized and much discussed.

Sophomore Courtland Ford got all the first-team reps at left tackle in practice Tuesday, which was open to media. (The Thursday session was not, but Saturday is again). The rest of the first-team offensive line was the same as last season -- left guard Andrew Vorhees, center Brett Neilon, right guard Liam Jimmons and right tackle Jalen McKenzie -- while on the second-team redshirt freshman Casey Collier and sophomore Jonah Monheim manned the left and right tackle spots, respectively.

Head coach Clay Helton met with reporters over Zoom on Saturday morning in advanced of the third practice and he won't be available again for another week, so he was asked for his early thoughts on what he's seen from those second-year linemen.

"I think Courtland's doing a great job and I think Casey's doing a wonderful job. We kind of just went the first two days and kind of primarily looked at Courtland and Casey at left and Jalen and Jonah at right, being able to look at that as a two-deep. We also have Caadyn Stephen that's working in there at the right tackle position also with the 3s. It was good to see those kids battle and compete," Helton said. "I think Courtland had as good an offseason, winter cycle as anybody on our football team.

"And obviously to be able to see Casey really gain some strength over that eight-week cycle -- unbelievably talented growing into this [6-foot-7], 317-pound body. He's really learning how important core strength is and being able to move that type of mass. But I was really impressed with both kids at that left side last week. They've had a good week. Now live bullets fly today and there will be a lot of moving parts. I would expect there to be some good and some corrections today, but I like both of their attitudes that they brought to the table."

Helton had said prior to the start of spring practice that McKenzie and Monheim would both get a look at left tackle as well, so it will be telling if that happens in the coming practices or if Ford gets a long look at locking down the left side.

Ford and Monheim each played one mostly full game last season at guard -- Ford on the left side and Monheim on the right -- while Collier did not get any extensive game action as a freshman. He was more raw of a prospect coming in, but with his massive yet athletic frame there has been considerable intrigue and excitement within the program as to what he can develop into over time.

Helton shed some insight on that development process so far.

"Have you ever seen that baby deer that he's trying to learn how to get his feet up underneath him and kind of all over the place. That was Casey when he first came in. You just saw this unbelievable, it's the biggest Bambi deer you've ever seen out there. But you see this unique talent -- just unique length, talent and athleticism and size that is very rare," Helton said. "It's very similar, two different maybe body types but the size of the man, if you remember Zach Banner and kind of how hard it is to get around him in pass protection just because of his overall length and size and being able to move for that big of a man. Both Zach and Casey were high school basketball players that I thought really helped.

"Casey's upside and ceiling is so high. He's so far away from what he's going to be right now, it's ridiculous. He's just trying to get a little bit better every day, but I can see him help contributing to this football team next year just based on what I've seen over this spring cycle."

That certainly makes it sound like if Ford is going to have any competition at left tackle for the starting role -- and that is an "if" at this point -- it's going to come from McKenzie or Monheim, or a potential transfer as USC scans the portal after spring.

But the start of padded practices Saturday will be a more telling gauge of where things stand.

Helton spoke generally of the plan for Saturday and ramping things up moving forward.

"We're really excited going into this Saturday, it's our first full-padded practice, it will be one of our eight tackle opportunities. There will be about 50 live reps that you'll get to see today and really see where we stand after a good week of work," Helton said.

"... I think you'll enjoy today. The first period should be a lot of fun and will create some energy and kids are excited about it, very competitive drill we'll do and hopefully that carries out all the way through practice. But I like the competitiveness of our team, I love how they're playing. ...You can tell all the team things that we did in that eight week [strength and conditioning] cycle, all the team mat drills that were done together, all the shared suffering that was done together, these kids have really become even closer than they were last year, which is neat to see, and now it's about keeping that competitiveness and that team-orientedness through these next 13 practices."

Like with the offensive line, there's only so much that can be read into these first two non-padded practices with regard to USC's high-profile freshman quarterbacks, Miller Moss and Jaxson Dart.

Both looked fine Tuesday. The ball comes out of their hands well, but big plays were limited, so it wasn't a deep evaluation opportunity.

Here was Helton's assessment of what he's seen so far:

"It's always hard when you're basically not in pads, but I went in telling the kids, every kid in that room, the quarterback room, walked in their position meeting room and just sat down with them and had a real conversation, that right now for especially the young quarterbacks it's about trying to improve each and every day, not worrying about, 'Gosh, what did I do on that pass? How many reps am I getting? Did I get the first-team reps, second-team reps, third-team reps, fourth-team reps? But just trying to get comfortable within the system, and doing three things -- being great decision makers, getting the ball out on time because obviously the college game is a little faster than the high school game and the timing of getting that ball out, and being an accurate passer," Helton said.

"Both of them have shown have sparks of brilliance, and both of them have shown some just coming out of high school, which is going to happen. But have been really pleased of their sense of urgency -- reminds me a lot of Kedon [Slovis] when he got here -- just their sense of urgency to be great, to put in the extra work they've done not only in the film room but how they're really taking command out on the field. So really positive for both of them the first two days. Now, they get some live bullets today. They're going to be put in some situations where they've got pass rushers all around them. ... I expect there will be those shots of brilliance that you go, 'Wow,' that really excites you, and there will be some times you go, 'Come over here, bud, stand beside me for a second, let's talk [about] what just happened.' So I think there will be a little give and take, like with all freshman quarterbacks. There will be some growing pains."