This page contains a single entry by Scott Wolf published on January 26, 2012 4:43 AM.
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I'm not buying the "glaring depth issues at WR". SC has the 2 best WRs in the country, with a third that was projected to be better than both when coming out of high school. Behind these 3 is Blackwell who was also highly rated coming out of High school. And Flournoy may have been in Kiffin's dog house, but he's also very talented. Also wouldn't be surprised if an incoming freshman makes an impact.
Yeah we lost depth with Prater and Butler, but there was little combined production there that I confident will be more than made up for with Farmer and Blackwell. With the number of quality TEs we have we could go two TEs and two WRs and still be very explosive e.g. New England Patriots with Gronk and Hernandez.
And if Blackwell and Farmer don't become the heir apparents to Woods/Lee, history has proven that at USC, and a lot of D-I schools for that matter, WR along with RB are positions where a true freshman can make a big impact day-one. If Woods leaves next year and Lee leaves the following year we'll just bring in another crop of five-stars.
Huntington......good point about that Farmer & Blacwell don't have much to better Prater and Butler's production. Also agree that TEs will be huge. WR is now more valuable than RB in both college and the NFL.
Huntington......good point about that Farmer & Blacwell don't have much to better Prater and Butler's production. Also agree that TEs will be huge. WR is now more valuable than RB in both college and the NFL.
Our WR depth is just fine. Where we need to prove ourselves is DT. Is J.R. Tavai a starter? I love his heart, but dude is from Manhattan Beach! #ballerforlife
With more and more spread teams coming into the Pac-12 defenses incl. USC's are and will continue to focus on getting faster and thus smaller. USC thus will be at a huge advantage if they can integrate more two TE sets into their offense. We'd have the flexibility to smash teams in the mouth or spread the ball out with the same personnel packages. You going to cover Junior Pomee or Randall Telfer with a linebacker?
Depth is only an issue if Marqise or Robert get hurt. Otherwise, after those two, and Grimble and Telfer, there won't be many more throws to spread around. I'm hoping Farmer takes off this year, as either Woods or Lee will be double-teamed every play. He could become the possession guy this year - the guy I thought Brice Butler was going to become.
I think the real worry is if McNeal gets hurt. DJ Morgan may have elite, but it could take half of a season for him to adjust to 15-20 carries a game - and without giant alleys on the left side courtesy of Kalil. If McNeal gets hurt, Barkley will be under a lot more pressure.