Early reviews on USC's 13 newcomers this spring camp

USC has 10 freshmen early enrollees and three high-profile transfers going through their first spring camp with the program this month, and with so many veterans sidelined for various stretches of practice so far, many of those newcomers have had a prime opportunity to make an immediate impression.

Fans will get their first look at the new Trojans on Saturday during the team's spring showcase inside the Coliseum (starting at 1 p.m.) -- which will be played before up to 5,000 fans/family members in person and also aired on the Pac-12 Network.

But reporters have been permitted to watch five of the Trojans' eight practices so far, and we've put together our notes and observations on each of the newcomers along with relevant comments from the coaching staff. (A 14th newcomer, Alabama DT transfer Ishmael Sopsher, is out this spring following surgery on his leg).

Here's what has stood out so far about each ...

We're grouping the two highly-rated 4-star freshman quarterbacks together still, as neither has taken a first-team rep this spring (at least in the practices open to media) and they'll continue to compete along with veteran Mo Hasan for the backup job through the summer.

The second-team reps have been divided pretty evenly as well. If we had to highlight an early leader, Jaxson Dart has had more memorable moments this spring, but neither Dart nor Miller Moss are lighting it up like Kedon Slovis did as a freshman his first spring.

And that's not even necessarily a criticism. Honestly, there hasn't been a lot of downfield passing this spring from any of the quarterbacks (Slovis included), so it's hard to truly draw any strong opinions from all the short to intermediate passes, check downs and screens/swing passes to running backs.

Dart got to showcase his dual-threat abilities in the seventh practice on Tuesday and had an awesome sequence in goal line work with the second-team offense. On back-to-back plays, he rolled right and threw a sidearm rope right on the money to walk-on tight end Sean Mahoney in the end zone, and then after the offense reset at the 2-yard line he took the next one in himself.

Dart embraced contact in putting up record-setting numbers as a senior at Corner Canyon HS in Utah, and the added dimension that comes from his rushing ability is highly intriguing if USC were to fully leverage it at any point.

We mentioned that sidearm throw and that wasn't an isolated example. Dart adjusts his arm angle when he's throwing on the move and is highly accurate on those throws. It's impressive. Another that stood out was back in the fourth practice, when he uncorked one on a line to John Jackson III that led to a 20-yard big catch-and-run gain.

His longest completion of the open practices so far has been a 40ish-yard hookup with Gary Bryant Jr., but to be fair it may have been a more impressive catch than throw as Bryant showed great hands and body control to stretch toward the ground and bring it in with a defender in tight coverage.

Moss has not had much luck getting the ball downfield yet (including Josh Jackson's acrobatic interception on a pass down the seam to K.D. Nixon early in camp), but he throws a nice ball. His best pass in the open practices so far was a laser for 20ish yards to walk-on Ty Shamblin as he threaded it right over a reaching defensive back and hit his target on the sideline.

Like we said at the top, we need to see a lot more of both quarterbacks to make any hardened opinions about their futures.

In terms of turnovers we've witnessed during the five open practices, Dart lost a fumble in the third practice and has been sacked more, while Moss had two interceptions in that third practice. Again, there were three practices so far that reporters were not permitted to watch, so the limited sample size isn't even a complete snapshot of spring camp.

TEs coach Seth Doege: "Right now, I think they're doing a good job. I think at first, their first couple practices, their eyes were extremely fast just because the speed of the game it's extremely different. And then just obviously learning a new system and when the bullets fly it's a lot harder than it is drawing it on a white board, which they've been doing the last eight weeks before spring ball started. So they'll continue to make huge steps. If you look at them right now, they're supposed to be in high school still. But you can really see the talent that both of them possess now. You can see how Jaxson has, he's almost got charisma to him without even saying anything. His body language and the energy that you feel off him when he's back there is contagious and that's just gonna make everybody else better. And then on Miller, you can just see how he processes things very quickly. Very smart, very intelligent player. So both of them are going to have, in my opinion, huge upsides if they continue to develop in the right way, if they continue to work at it. Both of them are going to be really good football players for us."

Cornerback Chris Steele: "They're two young dudes who I think are going to have the opportunity to do some special things in the future. As far as arm strength and accuracy, Jaxson has a very strong arm. I mean, he's made some throws I've been like, damn, I didn't think the ball was going to get there. He's making that 5-yard out throw to the field from the opposite hash, he's making that comeback from the opposite hash, he's making those deep throws, so Jaxson has definitely surprised me a lot with his arm strength. And Miller is a very smart player as well. They're still young, they're still supposed to be in high school. They're kind of in the same position I was when I rolled into college, so I kind of understand their frustration with the few mental errors that they're making, but they have a great coach and a great support system behind them."