Since late May, early June, when the USC football players returned to campus, quarterback Kedon Slovis has been leading throwing sessions with his teammates about four times a week.

That's given him an early look at some of the Trojans' notable newcomers, who will officially start competing for roles in the team's crowded wide receiver/tight end depth chart in a few weeks when fall camp begins.

As for how that depth chart will eventually shake out with the Trojans loaded at those playmaker positions, Slovis shares some of the same curiosity as fans and reporters.

"A little. Jaxson [Dart] was picking my mind the other day about it. He was like, 'What do you think?' And I was like, it all depends with the new guys who can pick everything up," Slovis said in an exclusive interview with TrojanSports.com on Tuesday after a player-run practice session.

"This offense, a lot of it comes with reps and experience. But if you kind of know where the ball is going to come, some of that niche stuff, get a feel for it, you're going to get to play. With guys who haven't been in the offense, obviously it helps if you're a transfer and you've played other places so you can kind of it pick it up quicker. Like K.D. [Nixon], for example. He came in [during the spring] and had a really good feel of our offense, but it will be interesting to see who picks it up quickly, especially for the freshmen."

Overall, USC is adding six new wide receivers/tight ends into the mix this summer who weren't here for spring practice in TE transfer Malcolm Epps (from Texas), four-star Rivals100 TE Michael Trigg, four-star Rivals250 WR Kyron Ware-Hudson, WR transfer Tahj Washington (from Memphis), three-star WR Joseph Manjack and WR transfer Jake Smith (from Texas). Smith has not arrived yet, but the others have all been working out with the team this summer.

"It's been fun. We try to go out here as much as we can to go throw. We have a bunch of new guys, a bunch of new faces, but also a lot of returning guys that probably haven't been in the mix as much on the field but I've seen a lot behind the scenes and in practice," Slovis said. "It's been really fun -- a lot of those young guys have really impressed me early on. They're still learning, but their ability out there is really fun to watch. ... We try to throw every day. It's probably four times a week at least."

Slovis gave us the breakdown on his early impressions of each ...

The first name he mentioned when asked who has surprised him from that group was Washington, who played parts of the last two seasons at Memphis but still has four years of eligibility due to the free COVID year given by the NCAA. He was named to the Football Writers Association of America's Freshman All-American Team after tallying 43 receptions for 743 yards and 6 TDs as a redshirt freshman last fall.