Don't Count USC Out: Down Draft Class is Better Than You Thought

There seems to be a photograph missing from the wall.

Pete Carroll's absence wasn't something that should have frightened people away from USC's draft class, but it might have played a part.

This class was expected to be weaker than USC's standards usually dictate.  By weaker, there were still seven Trojans drafted and three more picked up immediately following the draft as undrafted rookie free agents.

I'm not going to sugarcoat it.  USC did not have a draft class that met the typical standards of Trojan fans this year.

However, the team also went 9-4 under the leadership of a large number of young players, who eventually will likely be high draft picks.

This particular class was an afterthought to a very strong 2008 Trojan football team.

And likely, next year will be an extremely good 2010 Trojan football team.

Consider this draft class a "Sandwich Generation" in USC football.  Most of the sliders (which I guess was everyone in the class other than Kevin Thomas, and maybe Joe McKnight) fell victim to the depth at their positions in this draft.

When you add up the total numbers at the end of the day, USC still put a lot of guys in the NFL, and some of their teams got great bargains on players who feel insulted.

There might not have been a better way to light a fire under some guys who looked confused wandering around the field last year.

For each of these players, the reason for dropping was different.

Taylor Mays fell because of depth at safety and concern about his focus on the field.

Charles Brown fell because he was an above average offensive tackle in an extremely deep class.

Everson Griffen?  He lacks work ethic, though he did get passed over more than he should have.

Damian Williams, Kevin Thomas, and Joe McKnight fell exactly where expected, or in better spots (for Kevin, I'd say end of the third is a great place.  I am more than happy for him.  Yo Kevin, remember our econ class with Strauss?  I like to believe you read all my articles).

And Anthony McCoy is a great player who made a really stupid mistake for a guy who was going into the NFL.  He is reunited with Pete in Seattle as a sixth round pick; that might have been the steal of the draft.

Jeff Byers and Josh Pinkard will be joining him.  Stafon Johnson is the replacement for LenDale White in Tennessee.

I find it kind of funny that most of USC's players ended up between Seattle and Tennessee, where the coaches are USC guys, but the Trojan Family hasn't ever hurt anyone for jobs.

Would a lot of people have liked us to have 11 guys drafted and four more signed?

Probably.

It doesn't really matter because it simply isn't possible.  We can't do that every year; there just aren't enough players coming out of every class even with people going early.

It is unfortunate that the higher profile players from this class fell in the draft.  But it isn't a sign of what is to come for USC.

I'd say its a sign of what has happened.

And putting 10 guys into the NFL during a down year is a sign of a pretty incredible program with a bright future.