USC Football: Ranking the 10 Greatest Trojans Who Left School for NFL Early
Over the years, the USC Trojans have had many star football players.
Of those players, most stayed and fulfilled their four-year commitments to play football for the Trojans.
But many have left early, too.
Some who left have found success at the next level, where they starred in the NFL, or are continuing to write their legacy (assuming the NFL gets its act together of course) even as this piece is being written.
Some sadly never realized the potential that motivated them to turn pro early in the first place.
And some, like former Trojan defensive tackle Darrell Russell, are tragic figures whose names we only remember due to the sad circumstances that surrounded their lives.
But who were the best of these early Trojans entrants?
This slideshow attempts to answer who the best former USC underclassmen were going back to approximately 1992.
Now let’s take a look at these erstwhile former Trojans who left early for the National Football League.
No. 10: LenDale White
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It's not so much that LenDale White has been a great pro (he hasn’t) or that he was a world beater at USC (he was, sort of).
No, this is more about what might have been.
When White declared early for the draft, he had the opportunity to come back and star in a USC backfield that no longer included Reggie Bush.
LenDale White could have been a star that year in college football.
Instead, he chose to leave early and was drafted by Tennessee in 2006.
Following a series of NFL gaffes, including the famous spitting incident when he unloaded on teammate Donnie Nickey, White now finds himself with the Denver Broncos, likely looking at his last chance to stay in the league.
So White has been a bust in the NFL.
But oh, what could have been had he stayed that final year with the Trojans.
No. 9: Tyron Smith
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The only Trojan to make this list from the 2010 team is offensive lineman Tyron Smith.
Smith, who will most likely be USC’s only first-round pick in this year’s draft, was just starting to find his way as an offensive tackle.
Big, mobile and athletic, Smith is destined to be a fixture for whatever team is lucky enough to draft him in 2010.
With his departure (and those of other graduating Trojan offensive linemen), USC now faces a massive rebuilding job in the trenches.
But Smith is ready for the next level, and that is why he made this list.
No. 8: Chris Claiborne
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It may very well be that I am placing Chris Claiborne too low
After all, Claiborne was an All-American linebacker who won the Butkus Award in 1998 while a junior.
This led to his decision to turn pro, a move that did not bear NFL success after he was drafted in the first round by the Detroit Lions.
After a brief and disappointing career in the pros with stops at St. Louis, Jacksonville, Minnesota and the New York Giants, Claiborne is now out of football.
But regardless of what he accomplished in the NFL, he was (and is) a great Trojan.
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No. 7: Kenechi Udeze
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Kenechi Udeze was an overweight defensive lineman when he came to the Trojans out of high school.
With firm determination, Udeze shed the weight, replaced it with muscle and became a dominant defensive end who was drafted in the first round by the Minnesota Vikings.
Sadly, after a very good rookie season with the Vikings, Udeze hurt his knee in his second year and during that layoff, he was diagnosed with leukemia.
Unable to get his career back on track after the disease was in remission, Udeze retired.
We will never know just how good Kenechi Udeze could have been, but he was a great Trojan and one who left his mark on the program, including a 2003 season when he recorded 16.5 sacks.
After retiring, Udeze came back to USC and finished his degree. At last check, he was a strength and conditioning coach for former USC assistant coach Steve Sarkisian at Washington.
No. 6: Dwayne Jarrett
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A two-time All-American who holds the Pac-10 Conference record for touchdowns, Dwayne Jarrett was a money player for the Trojans until he declared early and left for the NFL after the 2006 season
As one of Matt Leinart's favorite receivers, Jarrett also holds the Trojans record for receptions (at least for the time being, with Robert Woods looming in the distance) with 216.
In addition, Jarrett was named MVP of the 2007 Rose Bowl when he caught 11 passes for 205 yards and two touchdowns in the Trojans' 32-18 win over Michigan.
Perhaps as important to Trojans fans, who will always remember moments such as his fourth-quarter reception from Leinart to help USC beat Notre Dame in the famous “Bush push” game, is that Jarrett helped USC move past Mike Williams' early defection to the NFL in 2004.
No. 5: Damian Williams
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When all the hubbub of quarterback Mitch Mustain’s transfer from Arkansas to USC was in full bloom, scant attention was paid to a wide receiver who came along with Mustain to the Trojans.
That receiver's name was Damian Williams, and he would go on to make a much larger impact at USC than his more celebrated teammate.
From the moment Williams stepped on to the USC campus, he became the go-to wide receiver for the Trojans and this could be evidenced in games like the 2009 Rose Bowl in which Williams caught 10 passes in the Trojans' 38-24 win over Penn State.
Sometimes diamonds are hidden in the rough (or in Williams' case, obscured by a more famous teammate) but by the time Williams declared for the NFL, he had far outshined his more celebrated transferring teammate.
And Trojans fans were glad Williams accompanied Mustain on the quarterback's fruitless journey to USC.
No. 4: Lofa Tatupu
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Another case of a transfer made good.
Lofa Tatupu, the son of former Trojan great Mosi Tatupu, was toiling in relative obscurity for the University of Maine.
A hard-hitting linebacker, Tatupu transferred to USC after his freshman year, and it didn’t take long for him to make his own mark with the Trojans.
Tatupu started 25 games in his two seasons with USC, and along the way became an All-American who garnered a well-deserved reputation as a fearsome hitter from sideline to sideline.
Drafted in the second round by Seattle, Tatupu has gone on to a stellar career in the NFL.
No. 3: Mike Williams
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While Mike Williams resurrects his career for Pete Carroll in the NFL, it should be remembered that Williams was an almost unstoppable force while at USC.
Though Williams will also be remembered for his ill-fated declaration to turn pro after his sophomore season, Trojans fans will appreciate the efforts he made as a freshman when he set a record for receptions with 81, and his incredible sophomore season, when he snared 95 passes for 1,314 yards and 16 touchdowns.
For those two years, it was a case of Williams being a man among boys.
After a dismal first effort in the pros, Williams has resurfaced and reunited with former Trojans coach Pete Carroll, and his career now seems back on track.
But Trojans fans will always wonder what could have been if Williams had stayed.
No. 2: Reggie Bush
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As distasteful as it is to associate anything cardinal and gold with Reggie Bush, there is no denying how great the disgraced running back was with the Trojans.
Bush, whose celebrated winning of the Heisman Trophy would be followed by his ignoble return of that trophy, was simply electric while at USC.
Teaming with LenDale White to provide the Trojans' own version of “Thunder and Lightning,” Bush was a highlight film waiting every time he stepped foot on the playing field.
Sadly, the career of Reggie Bush at USC will forever be tainted by the poor decisions he made, and those decisions are costing the Trojans to this very day.
If Bush had played by the rules, he would have been one of the all-time great Trojans.
Instead, he is a pariah who is not welcome at his alma mater.
How far the mighty have fallen.
No. 1: Mark Sanchez
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There are many Trojans fans who will forever wonder how good USC could have been if Mark Sanchez had started over fellow quarterback, John David Booty
Those same fans could see the obvious talent that Sanchez possessed, and despite Pete Carroll’s assertion that Booty was the better choice, sometimes the play on the field did not support those contentions.
When Sanchez finally did get his chance to start, he didn’t disappoint.
After a brilliant junior season in which he threw for 34 touchdowns and was named MVP of the 2009 Rose Bowl, Sanchez decided to turn pro and was drafted fifth overall by the New York Jets, where he continues to star to this day.
When Mark Sanchez decided to leave early, it forced Pete Carroll to turn to an 18-year-old freshman, Matt Barkley.
As it stands now, Barkley is entering his junior season with the Trojans, and his star is rising.
Trojans fans hope his name doesn’t appear on this list next year, but it probably will.
What position it occupies is undetermined, but Barkley would have to have a hell of a junior year to supplant Sanchez from the top of this compilation.
Conclusion
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The Trojans have had many players leave early who could have had an even greater impact on the program than they did.
Among these players who were not featured include such noteworthy former Trojans as Jurrel Casey, Darrell Russell, Joe McKnight, Everson Griffin, Chilo Rachal, Winston Justice and Darnell Bing just to name a few.
All good players but not in the league of those who made the cut on this list.
Surely, there are others also omitted and these players will be brought to this writer's attention as well.
But the former Trojans that comprise this top 10 are all players who contributed mightily to the lore of USC and one can only guess how much greater their impact on the program would have been had they stayed.
If these players had indeed stayed, that would have been a story that Trojans fans would have loved to see played out.
In the meantime, I’m sure these same fans are appreciative for these players contributions and all is forgiven for their leaving early.
They just hope that more Trojans don’t follow suit.
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