USC hasn’t exactly been the offensive juggernaut you would expect for a team that features the potential top overall pick in the NFL Draft, and one member of their coaching staff feels the Trojans have a pretty good excuse for that.
Offensive coordinator Tee Martin, who has been with USC since 2012, believes losing so many players to the NFL Draft earlier this year has been difficult to overcome.
#USC offensive coordinator Tee Martin on offense's struggles: "News flash, we lost a lot of good players to the NFL."
— InsideUSC (@InsideUSC) October 4, 2017
USC had to replace seven offensive starters, most notably All-American offensive linemen Zach Banner and Chad Wheeler. Wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster, who was drafted in the second round by the Pittsburgh Steelers, headlined a group of three wideouts who left the Trojans.
In other words, Martin isn’t wrong. That said, a lot of top programs lose premier talent to the draft every year, and the idea is for blue-chip recruits to fill the void.
The way quarterback Sam Darnold has played has to be a concern for USC. After throwing nine interceptions all of last season, Darnold has already thrown eight through five games this year. Unless Darnold shows a lot of improvement over the second half of the season, he may end up staying in school another season rather than giving fans like this their wish.
