Position by position preview, key battles as USC begins spring practice

Quarterback: This spring is about two separate storylines at the quarterback position. First, does junior starter Kedon Slovis look healthy after ending a second-straight season with a significant arm injury? Questions lingered all through last season whether his strained elbow in the 2019 Holiday Bowl led to some of his throwing issues last fall, and then on the final play of the 2020 season he was thrown down hard on his throwing shoulder, resulting in an AC joint sprain. Slovis threw at USC's pro day last week, though, and he's all clear for spring and will be full-go. But after he admittedly wasn't throwing with the same confidence last year as his freshman season, it will be significant to see how the ball is coming out of his hand over the next month. And then, everyone is highly-intrigued to watch the competition for the backup job between highly-rated four-star freshmen Jaxson Dart and Miller Moss. They are essentially starting the battle now to see who will be positioned as Slovis' successor, should he leave for the NFL after this 2021 season as most expect. But also, given the aforementioned injury history with Slovis (fortunately two of his three injuries have come at the end of the season, not costing him games), it's ever possible that one of those young QBs may be forced into action this season as well. The Trojans also have veteran Mo Hasan, who did not play last year as a grad transfer walk-on, but it seems most likely that Dart or Moss will be the backup come the fall.

Offensive line: This is the biggest question of spring -- and really 2021 -- for the Trojans. For the second straight year, they lose their left tackle to the NFL (and likely to the first round of the draft based on the consensus projections for Alijah Vera-Tucker). Unlike last year, when they had Vera-Tucker to replace Austin Jackson, the Trojans have no such obvious answer at the most important position on the line. Helton said last week that incumbent right tackle Jalen McKenzie, and second-year linemen Courtland Ford, Jonah Monheim and Casey Collier will all get a look at that left tackle spot. McKenzie is a veteran two-year starter, but he struggled in his move from right guard to right tackle last year, so a move to the left side would seem problematic. Ford has consistently generated positive buzz since arriving at USC and he started one game at left guard last year, grading out decently. Monheim was the Trojans' highest-rated OL recruit in the 2020 class and played one game at right guard last season, but he has the versatility to play just about anywhere on the line and it's uncertain what will prove to be his best spot. With the rest of the veteran starters returning in left guard Andrew Vorhees, center Brett Neilon and right guard Liam Jimmons, the full focus will be on that left tackle spot and seeing if any of the other second-teamers -- like redshirt sophomore Jason Rodriguez or redshirt junior Liam Douglass -- can make a strong impression on new OL coach Clay McGuire and challenge the incumbents.

Tight end: It's status quo here aside from a change at position coach with Seth Doege getting promoted from an analyst role to replace John David Baker, who is now at Mississippi. Redshirt senior Erik Krommenhoek (9 catches for 59 yards and 2 TDs last season) is back as the projected starter while serving mostly in a blocking capacity. Redshirt sophomore Jude Wolfe was cutting into his snaps last season before going down with a season-ending injury, so that is something to watch, but he's not going to be ready for the start of spring while still recovering from foot surgery. Redshirt senior Josh Falo was relegated to a limited role last year and it's not clear what would change that this season, despite Falo's impressive physical upside, and ditto for redshirt sophomore Ethan Rae, who has been injured his first two years in the program. And then freshman Lake McRee joins the mix. The Trojans also have a top-100 prospect in Michael Trigg coming in, but he doesn't join the program until the summer. He's the wildcard who could potentially force his way onto the field this fall.

Wide receiver: This is where everybody is going to notice a major difference with mainstays Amon-Ra St. Brown and Tyler Vaughns moving on to the next level after anchoring the receiving corps the last three seasons. That's a lot of catches, yards and touchdowns to replace. The new clear-cut No. 1 receiver -- and he was already making a case for that last year -- is junior Drake London (33 catches for 502 yards and 3 TDs in six games last season). He's expected to stay in his slot role effectively performing the pass-catching duties of a hybrid tight end while serving as Slovis' trusted target up the seams and over the middle. Redshirt sophomore Bru McCoy, the former 5-star prospect, should finally get a chance to be a full-fledged starter after totaling 21 catches for 236 yards and 2 TDs last fall in his debut. He's going to be slowed at the start of spring by a hamstring injury, but it shouldn't keep him out all month. That solves one of those outside WR spots, but the other one is up for grabs. USC has very intriguing options for the prototypical slot role with K.D. Nixon arriving as a veteran transfer from Colorado and sophomore Gary Bryant -- a former top-100 prospect -- looking to have a delayed breakout after limited opportunity last year. At 5-foot-8, 190 pounds, Nixon is destined for the slot. Could the 5-foot-11, 170-pound Bryant be flexed outside? He's going to get that chance, the coaches say. Also, don't sleep on freshman Michael Jackson III. He's generated very positive buzz since arriving on campus this winter and he always seemed like one of the most likely 2021 signees to exceed their recruiting rating, based on him being a late-bloomer on the recruiting scene and just a highly-athletic prospect with both a background in gymnastics and a tireless work ethic in the weight room. Junior John Jackson III should get plenty of snaps this spring as well while looking to make an impression. Redshirt sophomore Kyle Ford, who missed most of the last two years with two ACL injuries, will not be cleared for contact drills this spring, but he is running again. The Trojans will also add top-100 prospect Kyron Ware-Hudson and intriguing 3-star recruit Joseph Manjack in the summer, but they felt good enough about their outside receiver depth to move redshirt freshman Joshua Jackson to cornerback.

Running back: Running backs coach Mike Jinks publicly stated this winter that he plans to name a clear-cut starter and backup at the position and let those two have the majority of carries, rather than continuing what has largely been a frustrating committee approach the last two years. That sounds good, but Jinks is facing the same logjam issue he had previously -- just with some different names. Markese Stepp, frustrated by his inconsistent role, transferred to Nebraska, but veterans Vavae Malepeai and Stephen Carr utilized the extra eligibility offered to all 2020 fall sports athletes to return for another year, junior speedster Kenan Christon is still waiting for a real opportunity to build on the immense upside he flashed as a freshman in 2019, freshman Brandon Campbell arrives as a 4-star prospect who fits the profile of a true three-down back, and then the Trojans poached former Texas starter Keaontay Ingram as a transfer addition. So who from that group is taking a seat this fall? Ingram rushed for 1,811 yards and added 515 receiving yards during his time at Texas. He clearly left to find more playing time after freshman Bijan Robinson emerged as the Longhorns' top RB last year. Malepeai (team-high 238 rushing yards, 3 TDs last fall) and Carr (176-2) didn't return for a final season to sit on the bench. Christon deserves a shot to play after putting up 499 combined rushing/receiving yards and 5 touchdowns over half a season in 2019. And there were some questions that Campbell might decommit late in the last recruiting cycle after seeing USC's rushing struggles, only to be assuaged to stay in the class after having productive conversations about the opportunities that await him. There's no obvious answer here, even if abandoning the committee approach probably serves the greater good (and is something we have pushed for here). This will be a fun competition to monitor, and the hope also is that new offensive line coach Clay McGuire -- who has also been a running backs coach at multiple stops -- will have an impact on the Trojans dismal ground attack after USC ranked 120th in rushing last season at 97.33 yards per game.