FOOTBALL

USC Morning Buzz: What Happened To The Wide Receiver Rotation?

Whatever happened to the wide receiver rotation promised in the spring and during training camp?

The coaches said before the season USC would employ eight wide receivers and that definitely hasn’t happened.

Velus Jones hasn’t caught a pass this season. I wonder if he regrets coming back? Devon Williams played so little he transferred to Oregon. Munir McClain drew praise in training camp but caught two passes. Drake London has caught three passes.

“It’s a number of things,” USC wide receivers coach Keary Colbert said on Trojans Live this week. “One thing, it’s a long season. The way things have been going thus far, doesn’t mean that necessarily it will continue that way throughout.

“Between going tempo and things of that nature, sometimes it’s hard to get guys in and out . . .

“At the end of the day, we want to play the three guys we got in there.”

So don’t expect things to change much barring injury.

25 thoughts on “USC Morning Buzz: What Happened To The Wide Receiver Rotation?”

  1. Oh, Scott? The last sentence of your post IS our rotation philosophy: we rotate someone new into the lineup each time someone is injured……and not until.
    Fear of using anyone other than the first eleven is the best indicator in the whole fricking world of how much faith this staff has in it’s ability to coach players up.

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      1. 67 —For some reason o-line recruiting fell off when Callaway was in charge …and it didn’t pick up when Drevno took over…
        #ItsABigMysteryWhyThisHappened….

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      2. MG
        It didn’t fall off so much as it was neglected…the useful Christmas gift of a tool or clothing passed over for the bright shiny toy with the blinking lights…
        #TheIslandOfMisfitToysErCoaches
        #Here’s$___OrYouCanGoForWhat’sBehindDoor#2

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      3. 67 —Funny reference. [I never could understand the greedy citizens who didn’t just take the $10,000 that was on the table —“Oh, sorry. You’ve won a 6 month supply of Cream of Wheat. Thanks for playing”]…..
        #”OhBoy–WeGotVelusJones&HeRunsA4.3Forty…”
        #[“WeJustDon’tTrustHimToCatchTheBallFirst”…]

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      4. Strange how receivers later shown to have not been really that special appear so when playing on offenses with NFL caliber linemen…and vice versa, how little a JuJu matters against Bama when the line can’t block…
        #AndThereinLies…

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  2. My question is, what difference would it make in terms of wins and losses ? If they rotated 100 receivers, their record would be exactly the same

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    1. Maybe yes, maybe no. When everybody gets involved, when players don’t feel they’re being wasted or overlooked, teams start to develop a special kind of energy. Carroll got more people involved. And the team grew as a whole. A lot of talented players presently at USC know they will never get their chance, that they are doomed to die on the bench….
      #WatchTheLackOfInterestFromTheUSCBenchDuringGames….
      #It’sNotWhatYouWantToSee….

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  3. How about starting Stepp and giving him 35 carries ? Oh wait, that would mean Opie and Gomer wouldn’t be able to call 5 yard pass play after 5 yard pass play

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    2. Make that mostly 10 yard pass play after 10 yard pass play, buddy!
      #…WithAnOccasionalPassBehindTheLineForALoss….
      #…FollowedUpByA40YardJumpBallToADoubleTeamedPittman….

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      2. gt —Ha! [You’re thinking of all the 15 yarders we get for unsportsmanlike conduct]…..
        #NotAGoodThingToSpecializeIn…

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  4. I am confused as to tempo. I have seen very little uptempo. Looks like 2018 all over. Slow, confused, call time out, procedure penalty. Air Raid is uptempo, all the time. Not milking the clock.

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    1. Re USC’s alleged quick tempo offense—As James Bond said about “Q’s” pen bomb that just fizzled in the villain’s chest in “Never Say Never”, “I guess it hasn’t been perfected yet.”

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    2. The offense goes fine at the start of the game, once he scripted plays are over it’s the same thing as all the Gomer years, FUBAR or SNAFU if you prefer.

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  5. Rotating receivers isn’t rocket science. The moment the whistle is blown two guys go in and two guys out. Tempo is maintained because it’s almost instantaneous. So then the trick is getting someone to count to two. I mean if Baxter is in charge two guys go in and three guys come out or three go in and one goes out (Baxter can’t count to 11 without dropping his pants and then he’s not really sure what the count when he does) Even on punts seven guys go in and nine guys go out with Baxter. Could be a scorekeeping nightmare. If the numbers work for Baxter the jerseys are likely to be duplicated.

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