USC Football: Clay Helton facing make-or-break 2019 season
By Daniel Smyth
Will JT Daniels step up for the offense in 2018?
True freshman quarterback JT Daniels was impressive for the Trojans in 2018. The five-star recruit threw for 14 touchdown passes and 2,672 yards.
Daniels appears to be the quarterback of the future for USC.
In order to take the next step and become an elite college football player Daniels will need to increase his pass completion percentage from last season as he completed only 59.5% of his throws. Additionally he needs to avoid being sacked as he was sacked 25 times in 2018.
USC is loaded at wide receiver. This unit will be the strength of this team and should give defenses problems through the air.
Tyler Vaughns, Amon-Ra St. Brown and Michael Pittman Jr. all return. The trio recorded at least 650 yards receiving each and should be in store for a monster season with Daniels throwing them the ball.
At running back the duo of Stephen Carr and Vavae Malepeai will lead the attack on the ground. Malepeai started two games for the team last season and scored a team high eight touchdowns.
Carr will be the explosive back most likely used in pass situations while Malepeai is a traditional power back.
The offensive line returns four starters which will be headlined by left tackle Austin Jackson who started 12 games and right guard Andrew Vorhees who started 11 games.
Despite finishing last season ranked No. 83 in total offense the Trojans will have plenty of firepower to hang in games late in 2019.