USC Football: Projecting Trojans' Post-Spring 2-Deep Depth Chart

Though Clay Helton has technically been USC Trojans' head coach for more than six months, with 10 games under his belt, there was still a sense of newness to his first spring practice period. Having taken over as interim coach midway through the 2015 season, everything he did those first few months was on the fly. This offseason has allowed him to slow things down and really assess what he has to work with.

And though there's still work to be done, Helton no doubt is happy with what he's seen.

"I think we're ahead of schedule," Helton said after Saturday's spring game. "I'm so glad we've got 29 more practices. We need 'em. We're not a finished product yet."

The Trojans have a daunting task ahead of them to start 2016, opening against defending national champion Alabama Crimson Tide on Sept. 3 in Arlington, Texas. Before then, they have to fill a handful of starting positions including the quarterback spot that Cody Kessler had handled for three years.

Position	1st Team	2nd Team
QB	Max Browne	Sam Darnold
RB	Ronald Jones II	Justin Davis
WR	JuJu Smith-Schuster	De'Quan Hampton
WR	Darreus Rogers	Isaac Whitney
WR	Steven Mitchell	Adoree' Jackson
TE	Taylor McNamara	Tyler Petite
LT	Chad Wheeler	Roy Hemsley
LG	Damien Mama	Chris Brown
C	Toa Lobendahn (inj)	Khaliel Rodgers/Nico Falah
RG	Viane Talamaivao	Jordan Simmons
RT	Zach Banner	Chuma Edoga

According to Greg Beacham of the Associated Press, Helton announced Monday that the competition between redshirt junior Max Browne and redshirt freshman Sam Darnold would continue into fall camp, citing the performance of both during spring practice. This comes as somewhat of a surprise, as Browne entered camp as the presumptive leader after spending the last two years as Kessler's backup.

Browne is "in the lead right now," Helton told Sports on Earth's Kyle Kensing, but the play of Darnold in his first spring practice was too good to definitively relegate him to backup already.

Jae C. Hong/Associated Press

Quarterback is really the only uncertain position USC has on its offense heading into the fall, as everything else is looking pretty set. Running back Ronald Jones' freshman school-record of 987 rushing yards last season puts him on the fast track to beating out Justin Davis (who ran for 902 yards in 2015), and the Trojans have so many capable wide receivers that Adoree' Jackson's spring absence had no impact.

Jackson, USC's three-way threat who starts at cornerback and is the top return man as well as a receiver, is hoping to qualify for the U.S. Olympic team as a long jumper.

A few injuries thinned out the center position this spring, with Toa Lobendahn and Khaliel Rodgers both on the mend, but otherwise, the offensive line is solid and stocked. Both tackle spots are locked down by fifth-year seniors, while the middle features juniors at all three spots.

Position	1st Team	2nd Team
OLB	Uchenna Nwosu	Osa Masina
DT	Malik Dorton	Josh Fatu
NT	Noah Jefferson (inj)	Jacob Daniel
DT	Rasheem Green	Christian Rector
Predator	Porter Gustin	Jabari Ruffin/Oluwole Betiku
MLB	Cameron Smith (inj)	Michael Hutchings
WLB	Quinton Powell	John Houston
CB	Adoree' Jackson	Isaiah Langley
CB	Iman Marshall	Jonathan Lockett/Jack Jones*
FS	Chris Hawkins (inj)	Leon McQuay III
SS	Marvell Tell	John Plattenburg

New/old defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast—who was previously with USC in 2013—has installed a new alignment for the front seven this season, one that puts five guys up on the line by turning a few linebackers into edge rushers. This spring has been all about finding the best pieces to plug in the best places, though injuries have made this a slow process.

Linebacker Cameron Smith missed spring while recovering from a knee injury that knocked him out of the final four games of his freshman year, though he still ended up with 78 tackles to stand as USC's top returning tackler. His three interceptions tied him with defensive back Iman Marshall for the team lead. Assuming he returns to full strength, the middle linebacker job will once again be his.

Pendergast's new alignment has helped reduce the stress of having to replace USC's entire starting defensive line from 2015, though losing fourth-year junior Kenny Bigelow to a torn ACL didn't help. Then, in the spring game, defensive tackle Noah Jefferson got hurt, though the injury might not keep him out of action this fall.

USC's secondary brings back every starter from a year ago as well as most of the top reserves. Jackson's starting corner spot is safe even without an appearance during the spring, while Marshall looks to build off a strong true freshman campaign. Chris Hawkins was limited this spring while recovering from ankle surgery but figures to retain his starting safety position.

The true freshman with the best chances to play this fall are Oluwole Betiku and Jack Jones, the latter of which doesn't show up until the summer.

Position	1st Team	2nd Team
Kicker	Matt Boermeester	Michael Brown
Punter	Chris Tilbey	Reid Budrovich
Kick Returner	Adoree' Jackson	Justin Davis
Punt Returner	Adoree' Jackson	Justin Davis

One of the biggest surprises of the offseason was the decision by senior-to-be Alex Wood to leave the program, leaving behind his starting kicker spot. He was 13-of-17 on field goals and made 54-of-56 extra points while handling most of the kickoff duties.

Matt Boermeester made all four of his PATs last year as a redshirt sophomore and his 62.4 average on 22 kickoffs was better than Wood's rate, so USC is in good hands at the position.

The punter job is a little more uncertain, as three-year starter Kris Albarado has graduated and the top candidates are an Australian Rules Football veteran Chris Tilbey and a walk-on in Reid Budrovich.

Statistics courtesy of CFBStats.com and Sports-Reference.com, unless otherwise noted. Recruiting information courtesy of 247Sports, unless otherwise noted.

Follow Brian J. Pedersen on Twitter at @realBJP.