USC tailback Ronald Jones has entered the NFL draft, according to TexasFootball.com.
Jones made the following comment about Sam Darnold’s departure: “We kind of knew he was coming out. But him definitely not coming back, it just further made my decision since we don’t know who the quarterback will be next year.”
UPDATED: USC has officially announced Jones will go pro. Here is Jones’ statement.
“My sincerest thanks to all of my coaches and teammates at the University of Southern California. I am truly going to miss you guys. Go win that national championship for me next season. To Coach Clay Helton, thank you for challenging me to be a great player and to work on becoming an even better man. Coach Deland McCullough, thank you for getting to know me, earning my trust, and creating a plan for me – and the other RBs – to become masters at our craft.”
Gruden is already the new coach of the Raiders. !0 years for 100 million dollars.
All of Clay Helton’s excuses are lining up for the end of next season, although Steven Carr could end up being a better running back then Ronald Jones, If used correctly
I already think he’s more talented. Just needs to learn patience and which holes to run through.
He just needs to be on the field.
That too. He’s our best catching RB too. I love the 1/2 punch with him and Vavae
Running back will be a strong group this year, the new freshman tailback looks very good too.
Carr’s a more natural runner, More versatile too. RoJo worked hard to get better. Hopefully, Carr has that ethic as well.
We just got a commitment from a huge RB.. This class could turn out to be pretty good..
OL class SUCKS
19-20 will be better!
We blew it Carman. He was polite about it but pretty much said the staff were lazy for not visiting kids. He’s right.
I hate to hear that!
Me too. But blame Pendergast and Bradford. Griffin wanted to Commit but Bradford told him to wait and the next day he committed to UCLA. That’s what I heard and I believe it because Bradford rubs people the wrong way. But his father wants him at USC over Tennesse now that he decomitted from ucla.
Why would a coach ever put off the commitment of a prospect he wanted? That makes no sense. That goes way beyond rubbing anyone the wrong way.
I don’t see a reason to keep him or Callaway.
A guy like that wasn’t going to play for a guy like Calloway no matter how much he dropped by.
Who was it?
Salhuddin..from what was told.
Didn’t we already ditch that dude? I like Markese Stepp better. Salhuddin isn’t listed anyway, so he must be a super duper secret commit.
Thats what I heard.. I thought his family wanted him closer to home..seems like they are taking 2 backs.. Who knows.. I guess we will see tomorrow who else is locked in at USC…
I just wish you had been told USC was finally gonna bring in some big-time OL prospect. Nothing’s gonna change for us Trojans until Helton addresses that major USC weakness. And I’m not buying that all of our lackluster OLs will all of a sudden grow into great OLs next year. Ya, right. Those same OHIO ST DLs/LBs would rip USC’s OL a new one 365 days from now.
I hear you.. It seems like the 19 and 20 class has the real OL and DL talent.
Then it looks like Helton missed the boat. I’m not giving him until 2019 to fix this crap. He’s got one more year to show he can beat the elite without getting blown out and embarrassed by the true big boys. Nikias did him a favor by giving him this job, which he hadn’t earned by any measure. Part of the deal wasn’t fixing USC’s OL 5 years later.
I am with you.. USC is a training center for coaches…We need better experienced coaches.. Its USC not Ucla.
Huh? Who didn’t expect Jones to go pro after this season? How does this turn into a dump-on-Clay moment?
Every moment is a dump on Gomer moment
SAVE USC FOOTBALL AND FIRE GOMER TODAY !!!!
Only when the next coach actually recruits and coaches up some TOUGH OL
Not sure what to make of that comment. As an outsider, I would assume that doesn’t sound well for the coaching staff on how current players view things. Yikes.
I try to stay positive and support our coach, but it’s comments like that, that make me worry about where the team is headed. Helton is losing the team’s trust.
At A Baby Ronald Jones! Good Luck To You! My Favorite Trojan since you became a Trojan…always giving 110%
This is a throwaway quote. Means nothing.
RoJo was leaving regardless of Sam and he knows it. We don’t know who will start next year? Of course not. That’s why we have competition and new blood like Daniels every year.
You might be right Jack, but if Sam had stayed, it would have had some effect on RoJo.
I doubt it, running back’s don’t have as long a career as qbs or we so the clock was ticking on the number of carries he’s made. Legs just don’t last that long..
Exactly – average tenure for an NFL RB is about 2.5 years. The money also falls off pretty quickly, moving from first round to second to third, so given the average career tenure expectation, here is to hoping he goes high in the draft.
They say he graded out to a second round draft choice.
Second round is good. Last year, second round contract was somewhere around $5 million over 4 years, about $2.5 million guaranteed. Third rounders received about $750K guaranteed. Fingers crossed he goes in second round.
Rojo deserves all he can get as far as I’m concerned. His consecutive games scoring from 2016-17 was the longest since 73-74, only two Heisman winners and two runner-ups have more yards than he and his yds per carry avg is number two all time..heck of a kid.
Also, this is McCollough’s 4th straight running back going to the nfl early and his last two are killing it.
ROJO was gone to the league and we all knew that but the blogger tries to make it seem as if this was out of the blue so he can have more negative fire power when he meets Petros or god knows who to talk shop (Murder Mouth USC).
No way to sugar coat bad news.
I expected him to leave. He and Rasheem Green probably have good evaluations up to this point.
So Rasheem is gone too?
The timing is right for Rojo to go and he will do well in a year or so with an O line.
Not even worthy of recycle bin or green waste. Straight to grey can.
One of my “sources” got a great quote from Rojo. See my comment below………
Rojo should declare irrespective of Sam’s decision. Like Sam, Rojo deserved a better line. It is a testament to his work last offseason that he averaged more than 6 yards per carry this season. He turned many losses into gains. Great performer, one of the best Trojan RBs, best of luck to him.
Darnold, Rojo, maybe Burbett, Gomer, Tee11 and the grad student will have a field day F’ing up Carr, Ra and Daniels
SAVE USC FOOTBALL AND FIRE GOMER TODAY !!!!
FIRE GOMER…LIKE YESTERDAY!
ROJO was a real trooper and gave his all most every play. He was as important as Darnold in helping the team win games. But there is no future in this USC program as it stands. With Darnold gone, ROJO had to look at a disaster in the making especially if Helton convinces Swann to keep his coachings staff another year.
Rojo, hope u r drafted by the Texans…good fit.
At least a state with a Whataburger
Geez, I just had a double Whataburger yesterday in Waco Texas. About gagged. IN n Out rocks.
Wolf forgot to include the final quote from Rojo when he said, “Later B*tches! I’m out!”
Rojo is a valuable prospect for the NFL. Reading other comments there is a consensus that the O line was a major push for our better offensive players leaving. In fact I hope the NFL scouts see this too. Rojo would have amassed a ton of more yardage if he had a college level line. I wish him luck.
Darnold gone. ROJO gone. Burnette thinking of leaving. Helton is going to have a difficult time next year “coaching” his team. It amazes me that college football coaches, who get paid millions annually, would even have discussions with these players about leaving school early. These coaches are employed by the schools to work in the schools’ interests. If players want to leave early, they should consult with people outside of the university for NFL evaluation.
Well if this yr was a bummer … which it was btw… next yr is shaping up to be a huge letdown… 1-2 after 3 weeks .. say it with me peeps…
For the few flaws these 2 had … they still made ton of plays … next yr with a new QB & RB .. Trojans don”t get better by losing these studs… I’m thinking 8-4 ?? maybe 7-5
A quick stat check reveals that Darnold and RJ contributed to 45 of SC’s 55 offensive TDs this year. Wow.
I truly don’t think the oc or Helton will know what to do next year
Rinse and repeat!!
Lol..
Thank you RoJo for a very good career. If you had a supporting cast in front of you, you might have been back in NY for the Heisman. Good luck on Sundays!!
I’ve been watching both UCLA and USC football for 50 years, and I can think of only one time when SC did not have a top-tier running back getting significant carries–that weird year when Petros fell into the starting role due to injuries in ’98 (I think). Point: SC always puts a stellar RB on the field.
I just liked watching Petros every Wednesday when he would irritate Matt Stevens and finally Stevens manhandled him with a choke hold that was not real but not very playful either on the USC/UCLA Sports Reports. I was laughing hard at his head jerking around with the expression that he wasn’t ready and can’t do anything about it.
Ahh good times!
I like Petros–he’s not a middle ground kinda guy. Folks either love or hate him.
I actually like him overall, but his USC POV is all coming from his own beefs. When he got a microphone and camera he turned into Mr. Serious USC Alumn. But other than that he’s funny.
To a great NFL career Mr Jones. Will enjoy watching you on Sundays. Thanks for your efforts and class.
RoJo sure upped his game under McCullough. He really turned on his jets, despite no holes much of the time. Will be interesting to see who takes him and how he does.