USC Trojan Football Recruiting: Top Targets, Positional Needs and Predictions

As national letter of intent signing day draws near, the Trojans coaching staff is making their final pitches to prospective future men of Troy.

Although USC has only a few remaining scholarships to offer, there are some top players who the Trojans would dearly love to sign.

This slideshow will look at those players who are being targeted and speculate on their chances of getting them to sign on the dotted line.

Though the only thing for certain when it comes to recruiting is that indeed, nothing is for certain, it is worthwhile to consider who realistically may wear the cardinal and gold.

Having said that, realistically, there are no guarantees that any young player will honor their verbal commitments, so even those pledges are not for certain.

Consider that a disclaimer for future developments whether to the Trojans benefit or not...

Top Targets

Although the Trojans have secured verbal pledges from some of the southlands finest offensive linemen, Lane Kiffin and Ed Orgeron would love to add one more from among Kyle Murphy, Zack Banner or Andrus Peat.

The good news for Trojan fans is that they may just succeed in doing that as all of the above mentioned studs have either given USC a visit or are scheduled to.

With defensive tackle Ellis McCarthy's recent commitment to UCLA, the Trojans need defensive line help and they would love to get Aziz Shittu from Stanford's grip. Shittu will be visiting on January 20.

Another defensive tackle who is visiting on the 20th is Leonard Williams and there is an outside shot of getting him as he is from the Los Angeles area. However, Florida State seems to be his likely destination.

A position of real need now that Amir Carlisle has left for Notre Dame is running back. To that end, D.J. Foster is someone the Trojans would love to sign and his interest in the Trojans has been upgraded to "high."

Another athlete that Kiffin would like to see in cardinal and gold is Florida athlete Nelson Agholor and the Trojans have a shot at him as well.

Positional Needs

USC has had a need for the last couple of years to replenish the offensive line, and fortunately, it appears that they will have accomplished that mission with this class.

With verbal commitments from Jordan Simmons and Max Tuerk, two highly touted studs, along with an early entry from Chad Wheeler, USC should be in good shape for the foreseeable future and that doesn't even take into account the possibility that they will sign one of the three offensive linemen (see "top targets") they have a shot at.

For a more detailed breakdown of the Trojans positional needs, please click here.

Predictions

Of the three offensive linemen still on the Trojans list (Peat, Murphy and Banner), it appears that Banner is the most likely to sign with USC.

Also, look for D.J. Foster to sign with the Trojans. Foster really enjoyed his visit, and both Kiffin and Orgeron did a big time sell job on Foster as to where he will reside on the depth chart.

Also, and this is really going out on a limb, the Trojans may still be in the hunt for offensive/defensive lineman Arik Amstead.

Rumor has his brother Armond, who has been the subject of transfer rumors recently, signing up for spring classes at USC and perhaps there is something going on with the fact that both of the brothers have put their plans on hold for the time being.

Finally, look for the Trojans to pull off their annual signing day surprise among the trio of Nelson Agholor, wide receiver Shelton Diggs or defensive tackle Leonard Williams.

Conclusion

As stated in the opening slide, nothing is for certain when it comes to recruiting and pledges offered in good faith sometimes go by the wayside (see DeAnthony Thomas).

Having said that, there doesn't appear to be any "turncoats" in this class although defensive tackle/end Pio Vatuvei, wide receiver Darreus Rogers and tight end Jalen Cope-Fitzpatrick are all listed as "soft verbals" by Scout.com.

What actually transpires on national signing day is anyone's guess but expect Kiffin and company to pull off at least one surprise.

In the meantime, there will be plenty of movement and almost anything can and will happen.

Sadly for the Trojans, they will be operating at less than full strength with the scholarships they have to offer.

But if you ask fans of the men of Troy, they will tell you that the hindrance bestowed upon USC by the NCAA will only make their future national championship all that much sweeter.

Ummm, right Trojan fans?