State of the Program: Evaluating USC's WR/TE picture in the present, future

Here's what we know -- once again, despite losing significant talent to the NFL, USC looks absolutely stacked at the wide receiver position.

Here's what we don't know -- how exactly all those talented playmakers with differing skill sets and experience levels will all eventually fit into place.

Essentially, there wasn't a ton to learn about the wide receivers this spring as the unit was a shell of what it will be for fall camp this summer.

Colorado transfer K.D. Nixon was here, but Memphis transfer Tahj Washington wasn't yet. Freshman Michael Jackson III was here -- and made sure everyone knew it -- but fellow incoming freshmen Kyron Ware-Hudson and Joseph Manjack weren't yet. Projected starter and prime breakout candidate Bru McCoy wasn't with the team for the first couple weeks of spring due to "health protocols" (like a number of other notable Trojans) and then was sidelined with a hamstring injury the latter part of camp. Sophomore Gary Bryant Jr. injured his hamstring in the spring game and didn't play the rest of camp. Redshirt sophomore Kyle Ford wasn't yet cleared for full team activities while wrapping up his rehab from ACL surgery, etc.

As a result, there was no true two-deep to take note of, and the receivers that were healthy and available the whole time -- Drake London, Nixon, John Jackson III, Michael Jackson III -- got an abundance of reps while the Trojans often went with two tight ends to compensate.

So we'll get to our projected depth chart in a bit, and it involves some guesswork, logical reasoning and projection.

But first, as a general overview, let's start by reiterating that the receivers as a whole remain a perennial position of strength yet again for USC.

In the last year and a half, the program has lost Michael Pittman, Amon-Ra St. Brown and Tyler Vaughns to the NFL, and yet depth is not at all a concern entering 2021.

London should already be on the national radar for what he's done the last two seasons, including his 33 catches for 502 yards and 3 touchdowns in six games last fall, but the Pac-12's shortened, delayed season obscured it significantly from the overall college football spotlight.

London will be hard to miss this year, though, as the focal point of USC's high-volume passing attack while heading into what could be his final season with the Trojans before being the next star wideout off to the NFL. He was already as effective as the Trojans' aforementioned older NFL-bound receivers St. Brown and Vaughns a year ago, and now he's the clear No. 1 target.

It's hard to put a ceiling on what that could mean statistically this fall.