USC Football: 3 Early Standouts from Spring Practice

The USC Trojans are without question one of the favorites to reach the national championship this season. But in order to do that, they must answer a few questions and develop depth at certain positions.

That, of course, is what spring practice is for and the spring game that will take place on April 14th for USC. We know this team is loaded with talent and several college football superstars, but it's often the players that very few are talking about that end up making a world of difference in a championship run.

Here are three players that have really stepped up so far this spring for the USC Trojans.

Demetrius Wright, S

If USC expects to reach the national championship this season, they must improve a secondary that was ranked 102nd in the country last year. That's why junior safety Demetrius Wright stepping it up in the spring is really encouraging news for the Trojans.

"Yeah Demetrius has really flashed throughout spring. He was the MVP of the day today, really dominated special teams drills early on too. He's becoming more consistent and I think he's really taking to the new coaching, too" head coach Lane Kiffin said, via scout.com.

Wright has been working with the first-team defense throughout the spring and may see a lot more time on the field this year. He finished last season with 13 tackles.

Marqise Lee, WR

Marqise Lee had 73 receptions for over 1,000 yards and 11 touchdowns his freshman season, but he's doing something in practice that is really impressing head coach Lane Kiffin.

Enough for him to say (via Los Angeles Times) he "could be the best [receiver] to ever play here,"

Think about all of the history at USC and all of the great receivers for a second and tell me that's not doing something right.

Wide receivers coach Tee Martin also jumped in on the praise a little bit as well.

"You can tell him stuff one time, and he kind of looks at you, then he goes and does it right," Martin said. "You can't coach that." 

We know the Trojans have arguably the best receiver corp in the country, but maybe Lee is the receiver we should be most focused on and not Robert Woods.

George Uko, DT

A great defense all starts up front, but with several defensive linemen from a year ago no longer on the roster, there will have to be a few players to step their game up. One defensive lineman that has progressed is defensive tackle George Uko.

"He's a perfect three-technique," Kiffin said, via ESPN. "He's powerful, quick, explosive, he can run long, he can play the run and he can rush the passer. The sky is the limit for him."

Only a sophomore, Uko will have to grow up very quickly due to the fact that the Trojans lost both their starting defensive tackle and nose tackle from last season. That's a much bigger role than he had last year when he finished with 18 tackles and 1.5 sacks.