Kyle Ford feels many have forgotten about him at this point, through two ACL surgeries, two mostly lost seasons and so far removed from when he was one of the top wide receiver prospects in the country coming out of high school.
But he's using that to his advantage, just as he's internalized every other part of the unfortunate setbacks that have stalled his emergence at USC to this point.
"I feel like people have forgotten a lot of things, to be honest," Ford said Tuesday in an interview with TrojanSports.com. "I feel like in high school -- it really doesn't matter anymore, it doesn't matter, it's the past -- but I just don't feel like anyone really stopped me in high school. I don't feel like my speed was really appreciated. I'm not, boom, going to blaze right by you, but when the ball is in the air I don't feel anyone is faster than me. I just think people just forgot, that's all.
"It honestly helps me, though. It helps me. I hear it here and there, people just talking, but I just feel like people forgot. But that helps me. It makes me want to work harder, so I appreciate it."
The third-year sophomore receiver has a point.
Because he wasn't fully cleared for spring practice, going through the final stages of rehab from the second ACL tear he sustained last spring, Ford rarely came up in discussions about the Trojans' WR picture.
Of course, there's the established star Drake London -- who was actually behind Ford (No. 65 overall prospect, No. 9 WR) on the national recruiting rankings in that 2019 class. There's Bru McCoy, a 5-star prospect from that 2019 recruiting class who finally got on the field last fall himself and is now projected as an obvious breakout candidate. Sophomore Gary Bryant Jr. is also in the spotlight, freshman Michael Jackson III created a lot of buzz this spring, transfers K.D. Nixon and Tahj Washington are intriguing additions to the mix and on and on.
Ford might well be the true wildcard of the group, though -- a talented enough player to emerge quickly once he has the full opportunity to showcase himself.
And if everything stays on track that time is coming soon.
"I think by the time when I come back [for summer workouts] I'm going to be full-go and ready to go," Ford said. "I'm acting like I'm full-cleared right now, so I'm doing a lot of workouts right now, working out almost every day, whether it's PT, getting my legs even stronger, or it's field work just getting my legs back under me and getting my movements going, my speed and everything. So that's where I'm at right now -- just acting like I'm full-go and just managing it right now. I feel great, though."
At 6-foot-2, 210 pounds, with the strongest upper body physique of any of USC's wide receivers, and having always shown to have elite hands, Ford offers a total skillset that is really unlike the Trojans' other options at the position. As he noted, he's always felt like his speed has been misjudged, and the questions are natural now after two knee surgeries -- he first tore his right ACL early in his senior season at Orange Lutheran HS and then tore the left one last spring -- whether he is the same athlete he used to be.
It's not a question to him, though.
