A lot was made about the glut at tailback last season and why SC would stockpile so much talent at one position. I think the answers to those questions were obvious when we lost a number of players to injury and the Moody transfer. This year is a little different but there is still a logjam of talent.
Allen Bradford's daily highlight-reel plays appear to have put him firmly in the fall mix with fellow junior Stafon Johnson, sophomores Joe McKnight and C.J. Gable and redshirt freshmen Broderick Green and Marc Tyler.
"It's a good problem to have," running backs coach Todd McNair said. "People don't understand, you need every one of these guys."
USC found that out last season when a sudden departure and injuries old and new tested the Trojans' enviable depth.
USC started training camp with a jaw-dropping 10 tailbacks on the roster, but the number was a bit of an illusion.
McKnight in the rotation for a majority of plays is a given but then it will come down to Bradford, Gable and Johnson as the others who will see a majority of playing time. Johnson and Gable have already shown us what they can do when healthy, but Bradford is the wild card. Last year in training camp we heard a lot about how well Bradford was doing etc. only to hardly see him during the season, this year Bradford has kept a solid attitude and he has made significant progress in working his way into the rotation.
Regardless of who starts a lot is going to be expected as the run blocking will probably be OK but the pass blocking is going to take some time to come together with new faces on the O line and a new QB under center. We still have some issues but I like where we stand and after the amount of injuries we saw in 2007 I am happy with the horses we have in the barn.