USC Football: QB Jesse Scroggins is Reportedly Set to Leave the Program

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Thursday night sent Twitter ablaze, as two separate message board posts behind pay walls at Rivals and 24/7 had titles suggesting that a USC quarterback was departing Troy. After hours of speculation, 24/7 Sports’ Scott Schrader publicly mentioned on Twitter that the reported departing player was redshirt sophomore QB Jesse Scroggins. As of this time, it is not clear yet where he will transfer to, nor has the breaking story been confirmed by the university.

Scroggins, a highly-touted recruit out of Lakewood, California came into USC with an arsenal of awards in his pocket. He was an Under Armour All-American, Super Prep All-American, Prep Star All-American, he was named to the Prep Star Dream Team, Long Beach Press-Telegram Best in the West first team, Cal-Hi Sports All-State second team, All-CIF Pac-5 Division first team and All-Moore League MVP as a senior quarterback, to name a few.But since he joined the Trojan program in 2010, he has not lived up to expectations.

He redshirted during his freshman year, and after that he served as one of three quarterbacks vying for time behind Matt Barkley. Scroggins underwent thumb surgery during fall camp, which curtailed his progression and allowed then-incoming freshmen Max Wittek and Cody Kessler time to get up to speed. Once he recovered, he played in only one game during the 2011 season, taking the final snap in USC’s contest against Washington. He did not, however, throw a pass.

To make matters worse for Scroggins, he did not participate in spring ball, and coach Lane Kiffin said that it was so Scroggins could focus on and improve his grades.

Recently grades were posted at USC, and it is being reported that Scroggins would have been ruled academically ineligible. While this does not come as a huge surprise, it is really unfortunate for USC and for Scroggins because he had a cannon. His arm strength was unparalleled by the other back up QBs.

On the bright side, with Scroggins leaving the program this does free up a scholarship for USC, and we all know scholarships are like unicorns around USC these days. An extra scholarship would definitely help USC in this next recruiting cycle as the Trojans search to field a new roster of talent.