USC Football: Can Clay Helton get over the hump in 2018?

Defense

While most of the focus this offseason centered on the loss of Sam Darnold and a slew of offensive talent, the defense will also have to deal several high-impact departures. While they won’t be hurting as much as the offense, USC’s defense must replace four starters from last year’s starting unit.

Honestly, though, USC could stand to retool its defense. The Trojans ranked just 60th nationally in points allowed, giving up more than 26 points in an average game. Opponents racked up almost 400 yards per outing, including nearly 160 rushing yards. While the USC defense had some solid performances in 2017, they held opponents under 20 points only twice all season.

Not all is lost in the talent department, though. Top tackler Cameron Smith returns to his linebacker post where he is adept at cleaning things up at the second level. Christian Rector could also be a major disruptive force on the edge this year. And Porter Gustin is also back after an injury-marred 2017 campaign.

The Trojans should also get better this year at defending the pass, as four of their top five defensive backs return in 2018. Losing Chris Hawkins to the NFL was always going to be tough, but the talent is in place for the secondary to step up in a big way this season.

Focusing on the front five

The back end of the defense will need to hold up its end of the bargain, because defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast lost three of the five main pieces of his favored five-man front. Gone are defensive end Rasheem Greene and defensive tackle Josh Fatu. The duo combined for 16 sacks and 20.5 tackles for loss, tough production to replace on its own.

That is even before one considers the loss of do-everything edge rusher Uchenna Nwosu. Among the recent crop of hybrid linebacker/ends, Nwosu was a disruptive force in 2017. After a season where Nwosu racked up 9.5 sacks, 11.5 tackles for loss, a forced fumble, an interception, and a dozen other pass breakups, he earned a second-round pick from the Seattle Seahawks in the 2018 NFL Draft.

Replacing that trio, with 25.5 sacks and 32 tackles for loss among them, will be incredibly difficult. We could see more 4-2-5 looks from Pendergast this season as he relies more heavily on his secondary to do the lifting against Pac-12 passing attacks.