USC concluded spring practice with a 75-minute showcase at Cromwell Field that included about 40 plays. Here's a rundown of the news:
We learned today the cause of TB Dominic Davis missing the second half of spring practice: He underwent a procedure to repair a deviated septum.
Helton said WRs Randal Grimes and Keyshawn Young did not practice this week to tend to academics.
TE Tyler Petite (hamstring), CB Je'Quari Godfrey (lower body) and OG Jacob Daniel (lower body) did not practice.
Helton was asked a series of questions about the progress of Matt FInk and Jack Sears, as well as the impending arrival of J.T. Daniels. Here are the highlights:
I asked Helton where each quarterback improved the most between Practice 1-15. Helton lumped them together, saying they both made better decisions as time went on and became more accurate, especially on deep balls.
Helton said Daniels, who was present today and attended nearly every spring practice, will report to the team June 8. Helton intimated all the incoming freshmen will join the team by the first summer school session. In recent years the majority of them arrived in late June for the second session. This gives Daniels about 60 days to work with the team before training camp begins.
I also asked Helton how far ahead Fink and Sears are of Daniels. Judging by Helton's response (and having attended every spring practice), I don't think either holds a significant edge in this competition.
"Obviously you have experience, you get these valuable reps through the spring and then that summer period is a very valuable period for all the quarterbacks here on campus. But I’ve always thought that spring really helps you. To have the opportunity to work with the receivers, to have the opportunity to gain valuable experience from some failures that hopefully will be some success stories in the fall, that definitely helps. It’s also about what you do in the summer and that’s also an opportunity for JT and Matt and Jack and Holden (Thomas) to really have the opportunity to see where they’re at and how much work they pour into the summer."
Helton was then asked how manageable the learning curve will be for a true freshman QB.
"I put more onus on us as coaches especially when you’re having a first-time quarterback, no matter who it is, he’s going to walk out there and that’s going to be his first start. And you have to be smart enough as a coaching staff to say, OK, this is what we can handle in this moment right now and let’s lean on our strengths, whatever that might be, in that first week. It’s unrealistic to come out there and say, ‘Hey, he’s going to be Sam Darnold or Matt Barkley or Cody Kessler, Day 1.’ You have to be able to let them grow in an appropriate way and we have a lot of talent that’s around that position and I think Ced and Vae… those two young tight ends… those wideouts that are going to be here. We’ve got enough pieces of the puzzle around, we just got to, don't outthink ourselves. Just keep it simple for those kids and let them perform."
Here's Helton's full response when asked if he was comfortable with where Fink and Sears are at:
"We’ve got a lot of work to do. It’s not only going to be those 25 practices, we’ll be visiting with every player next week and really sitting them down and really for these two quarterbacks it’s also going to be about the summer. It’s going to be about our player-run-practices. We’ll have 13 of those over the summer that the kids will have the opportunity to go out and work on their own and learn on their own and those kids hopefully will take those experiences, along with training camp, to even improve. By August, it’s too late. You’ve really got to put some great work in right now on film and strength and conditioning, working with your wide receivers, have those player run practices and then get to training camp and hopefully you’re firing on all cylinders by then."
My biggest takeaway from all this: The job is completely wide open and Daniels will have ample time and opportunity to win it
before the season opener.
Couple other notable points from Helton's presser:
1. He felt like several of his defensive seniors had their best extended stretch of practices (spring or fall). I would agree, particularly with Porter Gustin, Marvell Tell, Biggie Marshall, Ajene Harris and Jonathan Lockett.
2. The other day Helton said the DBs were playing the best of any position group. Today I asked which group had improved the most and he said ... the DBs. That might be the case. I would say the cornerbacks, specifically, or the running backs.
Impressions from the final practice:
For those that didn't see it, today's "Spring Showcase" wasn't what you would call a true scrimmage. But it did feature some live tackling. The offensive line, as it has in prior Saturday practices, got a nice push in the run game. We saw Aca'Cedric Ware and Vavae Malepeai each rip off a few long runs. Malepeai went off tackle for one of his, as he was chased out of bounds by Biggie Marshall after picking up about 20 yards. Ware went right up the middle for consecutive big gains, though he fumbled one of them. I've said quite a bit about the two backs but what stood out most from today's runs was how big the holes were. I'm not sure either Clayton Johnston or Austin Jackson has an edge over the other at this point; both have been superb. Also, Jordan Austin has filled in nicely for Andrew Vorhees at right guard.
The tight ends were targeted more today than any day I can recall from the past few years. Granted, a lot of it was screens and short throws to the flats. Josh Falo and Erik Krommenhoek look ripe for targets, though Falo dropped one while he was wide open. He also held onto a strong throw from Fink that zipped past Bubba Bolden and C.J. Pollard. He also caught an intermediate throw over the middle from Holden Thomas. This was easily one of Falo’s best days. I believe he’s good enough to be a featured receiver. I expect Krommenhoek will be used more as a blocker but he's a capable pass catcher too. Both of them are such massive targets.
Lockett was involved in yet another turnover, as he stripped walk-on running back Ben Easington. Lockett's comeback this spring has been a treat. He's going to have a role on this fall, at the very least as a utility defensive back. He has what I'd call great football awareness. Have seen it from him since he was a two-way star at Mater Dei.
Kana'i Mauga continued to impress while working with the first team. He ran down a ball carrier in the backfield (I couldn't make out who it was) and was his usual active self against both the pass and run. I try hard not to use the following expression much but he just doesn't practice like a freshman. Same with Talanoa Hufanga. They're going to make a dent in special teams this year and perhaps on defense as well.
Tyler Vaughns hauled in a handful of short passes in what was another productive day for him. His route tree seems to have really expanded, though that wasn't on display today. USC kept things pretty vanilla on offense, which is par for the course when things are being broadcast. But I think Vaughns might be making a leap. He was already very good by the end of last year. Right now I could see him being an all-conference guy. I mentioned that possibility to Marshall after practice and he concurred. Ask any of the corners and they'll typically tell you Vaughns is the toughest to deal with. Pittman had a great start to spring but was really hampered by a shoulder injury over the latter half, which I think really affected the QBs.
Both quarterbacks were extremely efficient today, but I would need to watch a replay before saying they were especially impressive. We saw a lot of checkdowns and underneath throws that wouldn't move the chains without the receivers making multiple guys miss. I would have liked to have seen more from them by now. Sears connected on about a 40-yard touchdown to walk-on Matthew Hocum, who made a really nice grab in traffic. I'm sure it was an encouraging moment for Sears, but the reality is, the ball was underthrown and likely would be picked off in a game. He's got to get it there quicker, as Helton has noted in the past. He threw a better deep ball that was dropped.
Fink ripped off a 30-yard TD run and it looked easy for him. He's such a natural runner. If he isn't the starter, I don't believe they'd feature him in a package. But they certainly could. His long strides make him deceptively fast and his straight line speed might be elite for a QB. As for his work in the pocket, I really think he needs to begin going downfield more in training camp, and I wonder if he'll push himself to by then since the starting job will officially be on the line. I'm not even talking about deep balls; intermediate throws are totally serviceable. We all know USC is set up to be run-first this year. But I find it hard to believe this offense (with this personnel) would thrive dinking and dunking its way through each possession. That's why I think Fink has the most to show between now and the end of training camp.
***
This concludes spring practice (though the coverage never stops at TrojanSports). The team is off until the beginning of June. I will post my standouts from Week 5 later this weekend as well as my overall standouts from spring.
We have video interviews from Saturday with Matt Fink, Jack Sears, Porter Gustin and Biggie Marshall. (I intend to transcribe the highlights from these interviews later for They Said It.) I'll also finish up the 18 for '18 series with spring progress reports on the final seven players from the list. I’ll put together a projected depth chart as well.
Lastly, Swanson and I plan to get back to a regular schedule of podcasts.
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