USC’s young defensive line has little time for growing pains
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Khaliel Rodgers approached USC Coach Clay Helton one day this summer with an idea. Rodgers, who started six games at center last season after injuries thrust him into the role, was not the favorite to win the job this season.
Still, he wanted to be of service somehow.
“I honestly just wanted to help out the team any way I can,” Rodgers said. It was obvious there was one spot in particular “where we needed help.”
So Rodgers asked Helton if he could switch to the defensive line.
Rodgers instantly became the unit’s most experienced player, with more than twice as many career starts (nine) as the rest of the defensive line combined (four). How quickly Rodgers and his young teammates can improve may determine USC’s season.
Elsewhere, talent and experience abound. Only the quarterback question lingers on offense, and even there, USC has two enviable options in Max Browne and Sam Darnold. (Their competition remains close, and there has been just one interception in two practices, thrown by Browne on Friday.)
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On defense, the secondary will be expected to punish most quarterback errors. Even at linebacker, where USC lost talent, depth and maturity remain.
So the defensive line, Helton has said, has burrowed deepest into his psyche. It’s his biggest concern.
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Rodgers offered optimism.
“You shouldn’t be concerned,” he said. “If you see the work we put in here, just the level of competition we have, you would know that there won’t be a loss when it comes game time.”
Little in-game evidence exists to support the claim. Contenders for playing time in the interior include Rodgers, sophomores Rasheem Green, Noah Jefferson, Malik Dorton and Jacob Daniel and fifth-year senior Stevie Tu’ikolovatu. Only one, Jefferson, has started a game on defense at USC, and he has been sidelined with a nagging back injury. Tu’ikolovatu, a graduate transfer from Utah, started twice for the Utes.
USC’s scheme may help. Defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast employs a 5-2 defense. Technically, that means five linemen. Effectively, it can mean more linebacker-type players. In two practices, USC’s first-team defense has often deployed five players up front who were classified as linebackers last season.
So far, Helton said, he hasn’t been able to judge the young group. USC won’t practice in shoulder pads until Saturday.
“You get to thumping and you get to hitting, and you get to see a little bit about where they’re at,” Helton said.
Once the hitting begins, he said, he’ll look for two things: mastery of assignments and physical dominance. Some players display one or the other.
Rodgers, for instance, at 315 pounds, looks the part, but he is still learning the defensive calls. Tu’ikolovatu, who weighs 320 pounds, is the oldest player on the team, at 25. But he must adapt to a new system.
And players like Oluwole Betiku, a well-regarded freshman, offer potential that must be molded.
“Looks like a 26-year-old,” Helton said of Betiku. “Thank god he had a spring. The progression from him from the 15 practices in spring to now is light years. He’s not a finished product, nowhere near, but his upside is tremendous.”
Forging a unit stout enough to withstand punishing ground assaults from teams like Alabama and Stanford is USC’s most important training camp mission. Rodgers doesn’t think it should be complicated. He said it’s a lot like his old job.
“You’re just pushing lineman around,” he said.
Quick hits
Receiver Keyshawn Young was pulled from Friday’s practice with a shoulder injury and JuJu Smith-Schuster sustained a minor toe sprain and “should be fine,” Helton said. … Linebacker Cameron Smith and center Toa Lobendahn participated in some team activities Friday. Both sustained knee injuries last season and are easing gradually into action.
Follow Zach Helfand on Twitter @zhelfand
