L.A. Balls: Sports News Around SoCal

Seven Trojans went on the first day, and three more were selected on the second day.  It was by far the most players selected in the 2008 NFL Draft from one school.

One would expect a team that had just lost 10 starters to the NFL not to be nationally ranked the following season.  But not only are the USC Trojans in the top 10, they are ranked anywhere from one to five, according to the various college football prognosticators.

There are a couple of reasons for that.  One reason, obviously, is the incredible recruiting work done by Pete Carroll and his staff over the past six years.  The other reason is the players who could have entered the NFL Draft but decided to remain at USC for another year.

Linebackers Ray Maualuga and Brian Cushing, defensive end Kyle Moore, and strong safety Kevin Ellison probably could have been drafted had they chosen to do so.  Maualuga and Cushing would have been first-day picks.  Moore and Ellison more than likely would have gone on the second day.

By the end of 2008 season, all four will be first-day picks for certain.

These four form the heart of the Trojans’ defense, along with other returning starters: cornerbacks Cary Harris, Shareece Wright, and Kevin Thomas; free safety Taylor Mays; and defensive tackle Fili Moala.

Sixth-year senior Josh Pinkard, who has had to sit out the last two years with injuries, looks like he will be ready to compete with the returning starters for a spot come fall camp.

However, the Trojans don’t lack experience when filling in the rest of the defensive vacancies.  Senior Kaluka Maiva and junior Luther Brown saw a lot of action last year by backing up Keith Rivers, the ninth pick in the NFL draft, at weak-side linebacker.  Maiva also was a mainstay in the nickel defense.

Two younger players that will be very hard to keep off the field are Malcolm Smith, Steve Smith’s younger brother, and Jordan Campbell, who had an outstanding spring.

Filling in at the defensive end spot vacated by Lawrence Jackson (Lojack), the Seattle Seahawks’ first-round pick, will be one of the gems of last year’s recruiting class, Everson Griffin.

Backing up Griffin and playing the hybrid elephant position is a former walk-on, Clay Matthews, Jr., who had a remarkable season in 2007.  Look for both of them to make life miserable for opposing offenses.

The final spot to be filled is nose tackle.  That position was manned for several years by All-American Sedrick Ellis, the seventh pick in the NFL Draft.  Two outstanding players will be vying to see who gets the start—junior Averell Spicer and sophomore Christian Tupou.

Although this year’s recruiting class wasn’t rated quite as highly as previous years, that was due to a lack of quantity, not quality.  As far as quality goes, this class is one of coach Carroll’s finest.

This is especially true on defense.  At every position, there is a top-ranked recruit coming into fall camp looking to move up the depth chart, and possibly even crack the starting lineup.  But that is going to be quite difficult, even though many of these recruits would start on most Division-I teams, and even on quite a few teams in the top 20.

This is a hungry defense, ready to prove that it is the best of Pete Carroll’s career.  It is a unit that will force turnovers and is fully capable of scoring on its own.

Pac-10 teams, as well as OOC opponents, including Ohio State, will find it rough putting up points against this year’s Trojans D.

Teams like Ohio State, with Todd Boeckman, and Notre Dame, with Jimmy Clausen, two quarterbacks who have had trouble in the past with interceptions, are in particular danger against the best defensive backfield in the nation.

Their only hope is to try to get the Trojans’ offense to turn the ball over and get a short field.  But that offense might not be as suspect as some pundits have pointed out.

On first glance, one looks at the quarterback spot and the offensive line as the Trojans’ Achilles heel.  But if memory serves me correctly, Achilles was a Greek, not a Trojan.

Junior Mark Sanchez, taking over John David Booty’s quarterback spot, knows the Trojans’ offense inside and out.  Although he was erratic at times last year, stepping in for the injured Booty, this year is a different story.

This is his team now.  He is the leader, and he’s ready to prove that Pete Carroll’s trust in him has not been misplaced.  With offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian’s mentoring, Sanchez will have the opportunity to direct the Trojans’ high-powered West Coast offense.

And he will have plenty of weapons at his disposal.

First of all, the running back position has more players and styles than Baskin-Robbins has flavors.  They have the straight north-south runners, the cutters, the streakers, and the power runners.  And they come in three speeds: fast, faster, and he’s gone!

At last count, there were seven of them, and they all have great hands.  They can catch those short flare-outs, the bubble screens, or the long ball.

USC is equally stocked with talent at the receiver spots.  Right now, it is hard to say who will be the standout, or even if there will be a standout—that is how evenly matched they are.

One receiver who did have an outstanding spring camp was Arkansas transfer Damian Williams.  Ronald Johnson, David Ausberry, Brandon Carswell, Travon Patterson, Vidal Hazelton, and senior Patrick Turner have all proved to be capable receivers this spring.

Working against the best defensive backfield in college football every day on the practice field should give Trojan receivers a good test at creating separation.

Whoever emerges in the starting slots, along with the running backs, will give Mark Sanchez and backup Mitch Mustain, another Arkansas transfer, plenty of targets.  Both quarterbacks will have the opportunity to work on their timing during fall camp.

The only other question that crops up is the offensive line, where the Trojans lost five of their six starters, including tight end Fred Davis, the John Mackey winner and Washington Redskins draft pick.

The one returning starter is Jeff Byers at left guard.  However, center Kris O’Dowd started a couple of games for the Trojans last year before he underwent surgery for a dislocated knee.  He did return, however, and saw action towards the end of the year.

But there are plenty of tough bodies ready to fill in the other slots.  Charles Brown and Butch Lewis will be battling it out for the starting role at left tackle.  Zack Heberer and Thomas Herring will be doing the same at right guard, as will Alex Parson and Nick Howell at right tackle.

Anthony McCoy and Rhett Ellison are tight ends that both had good spring camps.  More than likely, they will be alternating, unless one emerges as the dominant player in fall camp.

But again, the beauty of Pete Carroll’s recruiting is that, even though it was light on quantity, it did take into account all of the Trojans’ needs for this season.  So at each of the offensive line positions, there is a top recruit coming in this fall, just itching to compete for a starting role.

Tyron Smith, Matt Meyer, Daniel Campbell, Khaled Holmes, Matt Kalil, Blake Ayles, and Jordan Cameron all have outstanding pedigrees.

The two with the best chances of breaking into the starting lineup are Matt Kalil and Blake Ayles.  Matt is a 6′7″, 280-pound tackle from Servite High School and the younger brother of former USC All-American Ryan Kalil.  Blake is a 6′4″, 235-pound tight end from Orange Lutheran, and an ESPN All-American.

This could turn out to be the best overall team that Pete Carroll and his staff have put together at USC.  I know that is saying a lot, but this could be the team that will “win forever.”

And of course, I saved the best for last.  The most important positions where the Trojans did not lose a single man to the NFL this year was the coaching staff.  That should worry opponents more than anything else.

This year, the entire staff knows the players, and the players, except for the new recruits, know the staff.

Finally, everyone will be on the same page—and the headline at the top of that page could very likely read, “USC Trojans: 2009 National Champs.”