Three-Point Stance: Best In Class, Running Backs

Welcome back to the Three-Point Stance, our little corner on TrojanSports.com to examine a trio of USC-related items worth talking about.

Signing Day is over, of course, but we're not ready to put a bow on 2015 recruiting just yet - especially not after USC signed the best recruiting class in the country. To that end, we're using this week to take another look at the strongest position groups in the signing class.

Next on our list are the running backs.

Yesterday, while touching upon the defensive back class, I wrote about the pressure USC faced to fill what amounted to a second-tier need without the benefit of a lot of scholarships to devote to it. It put the Trojans in a potentially dire situation because they had little margin for error: Every player they signed had to be big-time because they couldn't smooth over any holes with more bodies. As we discussed, they passed that task with flying colors.

Running back, believe it or not, presented an even tougher challenge, albeit one of a totally different nature. This became a huge need spot ever since Ty Isaac transferred to Michigan, and then evolved into an even bigger one when Tre Madden missed a second season in his Trojan career due to injury. USC's mandate, then, was to restock the cupboard with depth - at least two, ideally three players - and at least one of those players had to be good enough to play contribute right away. And unlike the defensive back group, running back depth in California was next to non-existent.

That's a stark challenge with bleak prospects, and yet still USC managed to haul in a spectacular trio that ranks as one of the absolute highlights of this class.

The first step in the process is by far the most unheralded. Aca'Cedric Ware is perhaps most recognizable out this way for his unique first name. Unlike his future teammates at the tailback spot, his game is hardly flashy - he runs with a direct, uncomplicated, one-cut-and-go style. There's nothing eye-popping bout his frame, either: 5-foot-11, 189 pounds according to our database. At first blush, some observers wondered what USC saw in him.

The answer has to do with the context of where he plays. Those unfamiliar with my wonderful hometown of Dallas, Tex. may not know the significance of Cedar Hill High School but in Southern California parlance, it's the Metroplex equivalent of a St. John Bosco or Gardena Serra or a Mater Dei, a measuring-stick program that gets everyone's best shot week in, week out. And it was at Cedar Hill, playing against some of the stiffest competition in the country, against programs who marked that game on their calendar during preseason, that Ware ran for 2,440 yards this past season on 8.4 yards per carry. High school stats always will and should come with some grain of salt but simply put, there's no way to fake a statline that good, in that league, for that program. A player who managed that at one of those equivalent Southern California powers would be qualified as a must-get by USC; this time, the Trojans plucked such a player from a region they haven't signed a player out of since 2006 in Michael Morgan. Ware's ceiling may be the lowest of the three backs but this is a coup worth celebrating.

The second step was snagging one of the elite few backs in-state who was worthy of a Trojan scholarship. How rough were things in California this year? Only three running backs earned four-star honors, compared to seven apiece in Florida and Texas, and none of them cracked the Rivals 100. One of those players, Redlands product Malik Lovette, maybe ticketed to wide receiver when he arrives on campus at Oregon. A second, San Jose native Kirk Johnson, was a strong Texas legacy committed to the Longhorns a month before USC offered. That left Dominic Davis, whom Sarkisian and his staff had to woo out of an earlier commitment to Washington State to play slot receiver.

Every coach is vulnerable to a little hyperbole when describing their recruits but if Sarkisian is off the mark when he proclaimed Davis the fastest kid in the state of California, it's not by much. At the very least, he is probably its fastest football player and ahead of a 2016 crew of similarly built tweener backs like Bosco's Sean McGrew, Charter Oak's Zion Echols and Fontana Summit's Damian Alloway, USC signed a back who is just as shifty but with an unmatched top gear. It's been well-documented that Davis isn't built to be the kind of workhorse back who carries the ball 20 times a game, but he doesn't need tobe with two other backs alongside him who can. What he will be is a unique wrinkle who other teams will have to prepare for, one that can get the ball on screens, dump-offs, motion looks and occasionally lined up as a slot-receiver, to say nothing of a traditional running back role that he'll still inhabit from time to time as well. On top of that, there is his potential in the return game; Adoree' Jackson has that group in good hands for at least the next two seasons but don't be surprised if Davis gets a crack at kicks or punts somewhere in his USC career.

Finally, there is Ronald Jones II, who more than perhaps any other signee can claim to elevate his position group from a good class to a great one. One would be forgiven for listening to Sarkisian's Signing Day presser and walking away from it with the conclusion that Jones could be his favorite player in the whole class, because there was no shortage of effusive praise for what Jones can bring to USC's offense. This is an every-back with top-end speed almost on par with Davis', who can be a feature runner and handle four quarters' worth of tackles. Don't worry if you're racking your brain for the last time USC had something like that; I am, too. With Madden and Justin Davis back next year, Jones probably won't climb higher than third on the depth chart barring a possible injury, but even in a part-time role he's a perfect compliment to Madden's bruising and Davis' cutting. This is a Heisman-caliber talent at tailback who jives perfectly with Sarkisian's vision of an explosive, frenetic offense at USC. The Trojans' running back class would have been plenty fine with just Ware and Davis. Slotting Jones alongside them, however, makes this a tremendous foundation for the future of the running back foundation.