USC Trojans Football: Could Cravens/Redfield Really Be the Next Lott/Smith?

In the annals of USC athletic lore, two words come to mind when discussing safeties Ronnie Lott and Dennis Smith:

"Football royalty."

Lott, who redefined the position while at USC from 1977-80, was a unanimous All-American selection in 1980 and brought a ferocity to the position that he would take to the NFL's San Francisco 49'ers the following year.

After a long and fruitful professional career, Lott was elected to the college football hall of fame in 2002.

Meanwhile, Dennis Smith joined Lott as an All-American in 1980 after lettering all four years in his Trojan football career.

Together, they formed one of the most fearsome safety tandems in college football history.

Now the possibility of a new set of Trojan safeties are dancing in the collective minds of those who follow the men of Troy.

Su'a Cravens, a multi-talented athlete from Murrieta, Calif, is considered by many to be the no.1 safety in the nation.

Cravens has already given USC his verbal commitment and projections of his dominance at the next level have culminated by his attainment of the dreaded "can't miss" label.

Except in Cravens case, it is warranted.

Supremely athletic with an extremely high football IQ, Cravens will find his way on to the playing field the moment he sets foot at USC.

Of course, Cravens is only half of the equation when it comes to a new set of great Trojan safeties.

To complete that duo, the Trojans coaching staff is focusing on Mission Viejo (Calif) safety, Max Redfield.

And the Trojan coaches are not shy about letting Redfield know about the lofty expectations they have for a possible Cravens pairing.

According to ESPN's Erik McKinney, Trojan coaches offer the Lott/Smith comparisons to Redfield on a regular basis in an effort to sway him to the cardinal and gold.

So far though, he remains uncommitted although the Trojans are extremely high on his list.

Recently, USC's coaches got a glimpse into what the future may look like when Cravens and Redfield practiced together at this weeks Rising Stars Camp.

To no ones surprise, the duo dominated when on the field together.

Should Redfield pull the trigger for the Trojans, USC will have arguably the finest set of safeties in college football.

Whether they wind up as good as the legendary Lott/Smith combination remains to be seen.

But even if they fall just short, that will be plenty good enough.