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USC has a wealth of talent at wide receiver, and sophomore receiver Drake London even gets described at times as playing a sort of hybrid tight end role, so the question renews for yet another year -- what role is there in the passing game for the Trojans' actual tight ends?

Senior TE Erik Krommenhoek at least has an opinion on that matter.

"I think our goal, at least as a room, is to have it increased," he said Tuesday morning in a Zoom call with reporters. "Obviously, we probably haven’t gotten as many balls the last two years as we’ve wanted to. I think that’s kind of what we’ve kind of been working on. Obviously, we’re going to do some in-line stuff, we're going to do some inside zone, we're going to do some outside zone. That’s part of our job, and we love that stuff. We love being physical, we love lining up and running the ball. We’re going to need to do that to be successful this year. But at the same time, like [TEs coach John David Baker] said, we’re not as deep at receiver as we have been. That’s going to be an enhanced role in our offense. I’m excited.

"I think we’re going to get a lot more opportunities on the outside than we have in the past, and we've got to make the most of those opportunities and do our best to catch some touchdowns and help our team out."

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The numbers are the numbers. Last year, USC tight ends caught 15 passes for 145 yards and 1 touchdown combined. Krommenhoek had 11 catches for 122 yards with Josh Falo -- a fellow senior this year -- adding the rest.

London, meanwhile, effectively handled the pass-catching portion of what a flexed-out tight end would do, working the seams as a physical mismatch while piling up 39 catches for 567 yards and 5 touchdowns. In fact, London's production is the focal point of the recruiting pitch Baker and the Trojans staff makes to tight end prospects. They specifically showed recent 4-star tight end prospect Michael Trigg film of London over a Zoom call, outlined that as the role they see him playing and locked in his commitment.

But, as offensive coordinator Graham Harrell said earlier this month, "Drake's not labeled as a tight end -- he's a receiver."

"I think that the lines have been blurred, even in the NFL. If you look at the guys, those tight ends like the Travis Kelce's of the world that are out there making plays, the line's very blurred between receiver and tight end. And so a big-body receiver could be labeled as a tight end. And I think like a Drake London type, if we asked him to go line up next to that tackle and cut off the defensive end I think he could do it just fine," Harrell said.

But the Trojans don't ask London to be a true tight end, and they do still use the more prototypical tight end in the offense -- just not so much in the passing game. If that's going to change this year, it's definitely one of those preseason storylines that is going to have to be seen to be believed.

"I think losing Pitt (Michael Pittman) I think obviously we knew like we're gonna need to step up and so I think just naturally that was something that us as tight ends and obviously when JDB became our coach, obviously something that we needed to talk about," Krommenhoek said. "And I think we've done a good job of making some changes and doing some things to be able to be more of a receiving group and be able to stay on the field for those third downs and not get taken out. So yeah, I'm excited."

Baker, who was on staff last season after following Harrell from North Texas, was promoted to a full-time staff position this offseason, taking over that tight end group from John Baxter.

Speaking Tuesday, he reiterated what he said before the spring -- that in this offense the coaches would ideally like to have a true tight end involved in the passing game, but it won't be forced. The tight ends have to prove they bring more value to the offense than the alternative (a fourth wide receiver, a second running back, etc.)