Spring Preview: RB one of USC's most talented and compelling positions

**In our Countdown to Spring series, we've already broken down the storylines at quarterback and will continue through each of the position groups in the coming days before the Trojans take the field for their first practice Sunday. To follow along with the rest of the preview series, sign up here!**

It's hard to remember now that Travis Dye only played 10 games in a USC uniform.

Despite spending four years at quasi-rival Oregon, Dye emerged as a natural leader and beloved fan favorite in his lone season with the Trojans, piling up 1,086 total yards, 9 touchdowns and countless memorable highlights before an unfortunate season-ending injury against Colorado last November.

It's not as if the USC run game fell apart without him. The Trojans rushed for 179 and 204 yards the next two weeks against rivals UCLA and Notre Dame before all the wheels on the wagon broke off in the Pac-12 championship game.

Still, there was and is a void.

Such that the coaching staff wasn't content simply returning two very capable veteran running backs in Austin Jones (972 combined rushing/receiving yards and 6 TDs) and Darwin Barlow (who admittedly has been mostly buried down the depth chart in his two years at USC); an electric five-star sophomore in Raleek Brown (402 combined yards, 6 TDs), who was only really slowed down by his own ankle injury; and a pair of four-star freshmen in Quinten Joyner and A'Marion Peterson, who both put up prodigious senior seasons in the Texas high school ranks.

That jumbled paragraph sort of makes the point that USC would have had one of the most talent-stacked backfields in the conference as is ... if one banked on getting more of the best version of Jones (177 combined yards vs. UCLA and 170 against Notre Dame before the run game was stifled in the final two games), that Brown can be truly unleashed as a healthy sophomore, that there is still untapped potential in Barlow (who rushed for 428 yards on a robust 5.9 yards per carry at TCU in 2020 the last time he was truly utilized) and that one or both of the freshmen could emerge at some point.

Perhaps that equally jumbled paragraph of qualifiers is why the USC staff instead decided it needed even more reinforcement in the backfield and brought in South Carolina transfer MarShawn Lloyd, a former five-star prospect who broke out last fall with 573 rushing yards (5.2 YPC), 176 receiving yards and 11 total touchdowns.

As Dye spends time this week at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis talking with scouts and general managers who will surely scrutinize that he is not the biggest or fastest of running backs, it's worth reiterating that what made Dye so beloved both within the locker room and throughout the USC fan base was his unwaveringly reliable consistency.

He was going to maximize every touch (6.1 YPC, 9.6 yards per reception last year), getting all the yards that were there (and then some), he was going to fully throw his body into that of a much larger oncoming defender in pass protection every time he was asked to do so, and more generally, he was going to be a steady veteran presence through winter workouts, spring practice, summer workouts, fall camp and every game week.

The goal is to have that at every position, of course, but having seen the standard set at running back last year and how much the offense fed off Dye's all-around excellence, that is ultimately what the Trojans have to replace at the position and why Lloyd was seen as a need rather than a luxury on the transfer portal market.

Just listen to USC director of football performance Bennie Wylie, who talked to TrojanSports.com this week about his takeaways from the offseason strength and conditioning program and shed some light on the impression Lloyd has already made within the program.

"Not just vocal but putting in the work, because I don't care what you say -- what are you doing, what are you about? Guys like MarShawn Lloyd, a really good dude, pretty quiet guy, but leads because he just works, man. He puts in the work," Wylie said. "We've had some good dudes come in and bring some good vibes."

That said, as all of the Trojans transfers experienced last year, nothing is presumed and everything will have to be earned on the practice field.

Lloyd is a highly-intriguing addition given his pedigree -- ranked the No. 3 RB and No. 33 overall national prospect in the 2020 recruiting class. His emergence with the Gamecocks was delayed by a torn ACL that kept him out his entire freshman season. There's every reason to think his 2022 breakout was right on schedule and that the best may still be yet to come.

But Jones will be battling to hold onto a large share of the carries after posting three 100-yard games and averaging 5.2 yards per carry last year. And Brown, the No. 1-ranked all-purpose back and No. 25 overall prospect from the 2022 recruiting class, will look to elevate his role after that ankle injury undermined a large chunk of his first season.

Add in Barlow, Peterson and Joyner and the running back competition should be among the most competitive this spring -- the Trojans start practice Sunday -- and all the way through fall camp.

If no one seizes the Travis Dye role -- showing that they're simply the best option to have on the field at all times and in every way -- then it's very possible it's more of a shared backfield this year loaded with potential contributors.

In the meantime, there are few spots on the roster as compelling entering the spring.

1. First look at MarShawn Lloyd: Lloyd had the most carries for South Carolina last season, but he still only had three games where he got more than 11 rushing attempts. And in those three games? Well, turned 15 carries into 169 yards and 3 TDs vs. Charlotte, took 22 carries for 110 yards and a TD (plus 31 receiving yards) vs. Kentucky, and he carried it 18 times for 92 yards and 2 TDs (with 24 receiving yards) vs. Texas A&M. He was sidelined down the stretch with a quad injury, playing in just nine games, but there was enough evidence that the 5-foot-9, 215-pound back still possesses that same five-star talent.

2. A healthy Raleek Brown unleashed? Even though his role was limited last year, pretty much anyone who has ever seen Brown play football is in consensus agreement that he is going to make a major impact for the Trojans. He's simply too talented not to shine. And he displayed that last season in samples -- six runs of 10 yards or more despite just 42 carries, the 6 total touchdowns and plays like this.

It's just a matter of what the next step in the progression is for Brown. How often can he be the lone back on the field, responsible for pass protection? How creative can Lincoln Riley get with Brown and fellow sonic jet Zachariah Branch, the freshman wide receiver? If Brown was able to do what he did as a freshmen despite the prolonged ankle injury, it's hard to really even project what he's capable of in 2023.

3. The prolific Texas tandem: Quinten Joyner was the No. 5-ranked RB and No. 98 overall prospect in the 2022 recruiting class and A'Marion Peterson was the No. 21 RB. Both four-star backs put up prodigious numbers this fall. Joyner rushed for 1,794 yards on 196 carries (9.2 YPC) with 25 TDs. Peterson's full season stats aren't available, but he too was performing at right around the same pace. Landing that tandem of rushing talent may have been one of the most overlooked storylines of the last recruiting cycle for USC as they both committed way back last April and had quiet recruitments from there. It seems very likely they make plenty of noise in the years to come.

1A. Austin Jones, senior

1B. MarShawn Lloyd, redshirt junior

3. Raleek Brown, sophomore

4A. Darwin Barlow, redshirt junior

4B. Quinten Joyner, freshman

4C. A'Marion Peterson, freshman