USC Trojans

Through two weeks of USC fall camp, here is our take on the current depth chart (an asterisk denotes a player who is missing time right now due to injury):

QB: Matt Barkley; Cody Kessler or Max Wittek

Still no word from Lane Kiffin on which back-up quarterback is in the lead for the No. 2 spot.

TB: Curtis McNeal; Silas Redd, D.J. Morgan, Buck Allen,

Redd appears to have moved ahead of Morgan for the No. 2 spot.

FB: Soma Vainuku; Jahleel Pinner, Charles Burks

Vainuku has put together a real nice fall camp as he gets ready for starting role.

FL: Robert Woods; De'Von Flournoy, Nelson Agholor

Woods is looking good on that ankle lately.

SE: Marqise Lee; George Farmer, Victor Blackwell

Farmer and Blackwell have both performed well in recent practices

TE: Randall Telfer or Xavier Grimble; Junior Pomee *, Jalen Cope-Fitzpatrick

Pomee was looking real good early in camp before getting hurt

LT: Aundrey Walker; Max Tuerk, Nathan Guertler

Tuerk was impressive while Walker was out, but Walker recently returned to action.

LG: Marcus Martin; Abe Markowitz, Giovanni Di Poalo

Markowitz can also serve as an option at center

C: Khaled Holmes; Cyrus Hobbi

Holmes looks like an All-American in camp

RG: John Martinez; Jeremy Galten

Martinez pairs with Graf to form an effective right side

RT: Kevin Graf*; Zach Banner

Guerlter has moved over to the right side in recent days with Graf out of action.

DE: J.R. Tavai*; Greg Townsend Jr.*, Morgan Breslin

With Tavai and Townsend both out and DeVante Wilson going down for the year with a knee injury, Breslin has flipped over from the right side.

DT: George Uko; Leonard Williams

Uko is showing signs of very good play -- a breakout year could definitely be on the horizon.

NT: Antwuan Woods; Christian Heyward, Cody Temple*

Woods has improved greatly from last fall.

DE: Wes Horton*; Kevin Greene

Greene could be counted on to play an increased role this fall.

WLB: Hayes Pullard; Anthony Sarao, Dallas Kelley

Pullard will move to the middle if Dawson is out.

MLB: Lamar Dawson*; Scott Starr, Will Andrew

Dawson has been out of action for a while.

SLB: Dion Bailey*; Tony Burnett, Jabari Ruffin

Bailey has seen spot duty in recent days, he should be fine.

CB: Nickell Robey; Kevon Seymour, Ryan Henderson, Brian Baucham*

Seymour has taken advantage of the absence of other corners to make an early impact.

CB: Anthony Brown; Torin Harris*, Devian Shelton

Kiffin has made no secret of how much he misses Harris in the lineup.

FS: T.J. McDonald; Drew McAllister, Gerald Bowman

After missing spring, Bowman started slow in camp but has come on lately.

SS: Jawanza Starling; Demetrius Wright, Josh Shaw

Shaw could play either corner or safety, though the coaches appear to prefer him at safety.

Here is the depth chart that was released today by USC head coach Lane Kiffin. Freshmen that are arriving this fall are in parentheses.

Offense
QB Matt Barkley; Max Wittek OR Cody Kessler; Jesse Scroggins

TB Curtis McNeal; D.J. Morgan; Buck Allen (Nelson Agholor)

FB Soma Vainuku; Hunter Simmons (Jahleel Pinner)

SE Marqise Lee; George Farmer; Victor Blackwell (Darreus Rogers)

FL Robert Woods; De’Von Flournoy (Nelson Agholor)

TE Randall Telfer OR Xavier Grimble; Christian Thomas OR Junior Pomee (Jalen Cope-Fitzpatrick)

LT Aundrey Walker; Nathan Guertler; Chad Wheeler

LG Marcus Martin; Cyrus Hobbi (Max Tuerk)

C Khaled Holmes; Abe Markowitz; Giovanni Di Poalo

RG John Martinez; Jeremy Galten (Jordan Simmons)

RT Kevin Graf; David Garness (Zach Banner)

Defense
DE Devon Kennard; Greg Townsend; Charles Burks; DeVante Wilson

DT George Uko; Zack Kusnir; Christian Heyward

NT J.R. Tavai; Antwaun Woods; Cody Temple

DE Wes Horton; Morgan Breslin; Kevin Greene (Leonard Williams)

WLB Hayes Pullard; Anthony Sarao

MLB Lamar Dawson; Scott Starr; Will Andrew; Dallas Kelley (Jabari Ruffin)

SLB Dion Bailey; Tony Burnett; Marquis Simmons

CB Nickell Robey; Anthony Brown; Ryan Henderson (Kevon Seymour)

CB Isiah Wiley OR Brian Baucham OR Torin Harris (Devian Shelton)

SS Jawanza Starling OR Demetrius Wright (Gerald Bowman)

FS T.J. McDonald; Drew McAllister; Joshua Shaw

PK Andre Heidari; Craig McMahon

P Kyle Negrete OR Kris Albarado

LS Peter McBride

PR Nickell Robey OR Robert Woods; Marqise Lee

KR Robert Woods AND Curtis McNeal OR Marqise Lee; George Farmer or Nickell Robey

OFFENSE

SE — 2 Robert Woods (6-1, 180, So.)
19 Brice Butler (6-4, 195, Jr.*)
21 Kyle Prater (6-5, 215, Fr.*)

LT — 75 Matt Kalil (6-7, 295, Jr.*)
76 Nathan Guertler (6-5, 275, Fr.*)

LG — 66 Marcus Martin (6-3, 340, Fr.)
72 Martin Coleman (6-5, 335, Sr.*) OR
74 Jeremy Galten (6-5, 285, Jr.)

C — 78 Khaled Holmes (6-4, 310, Jr.*)
59 John Martinez (6-2, 290, So.*)
69 Cyrus Hobbi (6-3, 275, Fr.)

RG — 59 John Martinez (6-2, 290, So.*)
70 Aundrey Walker (6-6, 375, Fr.)
64 Cody Temple (6-2, 280, Fr.)

RT — 77 Kevin Graf (6-6, 305, So.*)
74 Jeremy Galten (6-5, 285, Jr.)
73 David Garness (6-5, 290, Jr.)

TE — 86 Xavier Grimble (6-5, 245, Fr.*) OR
82 Randall Telfer (6-4, 230, Fr.*)
40 Rhett Ellison (6-5, 250, Sr.*)

FL — 9 Marqise Lee (6-0, 190, Fr.)
80 Brandon Carswell (6-1, 190, Sr.*)
10 De’Von Flournoy (6-0, 180, So.*)
49 Robbie Boyer (6-0, 175, Jr.*)
85 Victor Blackwell (6-1, 185, Fr.)

QB — 7 Matt Barkley (6-2, 220, Jr.)
15 Jesse Scroggins (6-2, 205, Fr.*)
6 Cody Kessler (6-1, 210, Fr.)
13 Max Wittek (6-4, 210, Fr.) OR
18 John Manoogian (6-0, 205, Jr.*)

FB — 40 Rhett Ellison (6-5, 250, Sr.*)
46 Ross Cumming (6-1, 230, Sr.)
36 Simione Vehikite (5-11, 225, So.*)
31 Soma Vainuku (6-0, 245, Fr.)

TB — 22 Curtis McNeal (5-7, 180, Jr.*) OR
26 Marc Tyler (5-11, 230, Sr.*)
30 D.J. Morgan (5-10, 190, Fr.*) OR
41 Amir Carlisle (5-10, 180, Fr.) OR
8 George Farmer (6-1, 205, Fr.)

DEFENSE

DE — 96 Wes Horton (6-5, 265, Jr.*) OR
42 Devon Kennard (6-3, 250, Jr.)

NT — 44 Christian Tupou (6-2, 300, Sr.*)
98 DaJohn Harris (6-4, 310, Sr.*)
99 Antwaun Woods (6-1, 325, Fr.)

DT — 98 DaJohn Harris (6-4, 310, Sr.*)
90 George Uko (6-3, 295, Fr.*)
58 J.R. Tavai (6-2, 270, Fr.)
97 Christian Heyward (6-2, 275, Fr.)

DE — 8 Nick Perry (6-3, 250, Jr.*)
81 Kevin Greene (6-4, 260, So.*)
93 Greg Townsend Jr. (6-3, 275, Fr.)

SLB — 18 Dion Bailey (6-0, 200, Fr.*)
13 Tre Madden (6-0, 220, Fr.)

MLB — 55 Lamar Dawson (6-2, 235, Fr.)
54 Chris Galippo (6-2, 250, Sr.*)
51 Will Andrew (6-2, 230, So.*)
52 Dallas Kelley (5-11, 225, Jr.)

WLB — 10 Hayes Pullard (6-0, 225, Fr.*)
23 Shane Horton (6-1, 200, Sr.*)
56 Anthony Sarao (6-0, 210, Fr.)

CB — 21 Nickell Robey (5-8, 165, So.)
34 Tony Burnett (6-1, 195, Jr.*)
38 T.J. Bryant (5-11, 185, Sr.)

SS — 29 Jawanza Starling (6-1, 195, Jr.)
27 Marshall Jones (5-11, 180, Sr.*) OR
24 Demetrius Wright (6-1, 195, So.)

FS — 7 T.J. McDonald (6-3, 205, Jr.)
19 Drew McAllister (6-1, 205, Jr.*)

CB — 14 Isiah Wiley (6-1, 185, Jr.)
34 Tony Burnett (6-1, 195, Jr.*)
4 Torin Harris (6-0, 180, So.*)
15 Ryan Henderson (5-10, 170, Fr.)

SPECIALISTS

P — 35 Kyle Negrete (6-0, 210, Jr.*)
35 Kris Albarado (5-11, 200, Fr.)

PK — 48 Andre Heidari (5-10, 210, Fr.)
46 Craig McMahon (6-1, 180, Fr.*)

SNP — 62 Chris Pousson (6-4, 250, Sr.)
61 Peter McBride (6-1, 205, Fr.)

HLD — 7 Matt Barkley (6-2, 220, Jr.)
35 Kyle Negrete (6-0, 210, Jr.*)

RETURNERS

KOR — 2 Robert Woods (6-1, 180, So.) OR
22 Curtis McNeal (5-7, 180, Jr.*) OR
9 Marqise Lee (6-0, 190, Fr.) OR
21 Nickell Robey (5-8, 165, So.) OR
8 George Farmer (6-1, 205, Fr.)
80 Brandon Carswell (6-1, 190, Sr.*)

PR — 21 Nickell Robey (5-8, 165, So.) OR
2 Robert Woods (6-1, 180, So.)
22 Curtis McNeal (5-7, 180, Jr.*) OR
80 Brandon Carswell (6-1, 190, Sr.*)

* courtesy USC Sports Information

2011 depth chart

WLB – Hayes Pullard, Shane Horton, Anthony Sarao

MLB – Chris Galippo, Lamar Dawson, Will Andrew, Dallas Kelley

SLB – Dion Bailey, Tre Madden, Marquis Simmons (out for season)

Projected depth chart for 2012

WLB – Pullard, Sarao, Jabari Ruffin

MLB – Dawson, Scott Starr, Andrew, Kelley

SLB – Bailey, Madden, Simmons, Ruffin

At weakside, Pullard is the solid starter heading into next season. Sarao has come on lately on the service team and is starting to make an impact. If Sarao continues to progress through the offseason, he would figure to have the edge over the true freshmen in the battle to back up Pullard.

In the middle, there's little doubt that Dawson is the man in the future. Even though Andrew was recently awarded a scholarship, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Starr move ahead of him sometime next fall as the primary reserve.

At strongside, this will be Bailey’s spot for a while. Madden offers a nice option too, but Bailey is playing at a very high level and should only improve. Simmons will provide a nice third option when healthy. This is a spot of very good depth for the Trojans.

The incoming freshmen, Starr and Ruffin, could get a look at multiple spots.