USC Football Recruiting: How Will Sanctions Affect Trojans Down the Road?

The USC Trojans are getting ready to lose scholarships. Supposedly, this is supposed to harm them. 

But let's not kid ourselves. So far, the sanctions have not really hurt the Trojans in terms of recruiting. They were able to get a top-five ranked recruiting class this past spring and with Ed Orgeron in charge of recruiting, the Trojans won't have trouble attracting recruits to Los Angeles.

USC's prime location in downtown Los Angeles, abundance of beautiful women, and the fact that it's a legendary program will sell itself and because of this the Trojans will continue to get top recruits. Add Ed Orgeron's experience as a recruiting coordinator and the Trojans seem fit to attract all the major recruits in the upcoming seasons.

However, one major concern will be depth. 

Injuries are an inevitable part of football. They can't be avoided. Two or three years down the road, sure the Trojans starting lineup will be strong. They'll probably have an elite quarterback with some great defensive players to go with them. But the deeper you will go through the Trojans lineup, the thinner it will be.

Since USC is limited in scholarships, it's going to be very difficult for their back up players to be great players. They'll have depth issues for several years and this can be costly.

When injuries strike, the replacements might not be experienced or good enough to take on the challenge. USC will struggle because of this. 

Will this automatically make USC a long shot to make the BCS National Championship Game? 

No. Absolutely not. 

However, it will make it harder. The Trojans need to recruit durable guys who don't get hurt and don't have a history of injuries. College backups are usually limited in talent, but in the coming years USC is going to take a dose of what backups in non-traditional football programs are like.