Can JuJu Smith-Schuster Break USC Football Receiving Records in 2016?

What would it take for JuJu Smith-Schuster to break USC football career receiving records set by Robert Woods and Marqise Lee? They’re well within reach.

JuJu Smith-Schuster is the latest in a long line of exceptional wide receivers to lead the USC football passing attack. But can he perch himself atop them all by breaking the career records of Robert Woods and Marqise Lee?

In two seasons as a starter for the Trojans, Smith-Schuster has amassed an impressive stat line. With 143 catches for 2,178 yards, he already stands No. 13 among USC’s career all-time list of pass catchers.

As a sophomore, Smith-Schuster was a semifinalist for the Biletnikoff Award. His 89 catches for 1,454 yards and 10 touchdowns put him in rare company.

In fact, his yardage total was the third-most for a USC receiver, while he ranked seventh on the Trojans’ single-season list for receptions.

Great seasons are the building blocks for great career numbers and Smith-Schuster has put himself in position to make a run at the big boys on USC’s all-time lists.

But what exactly would it take to surpass Woods and Lee?

Lee holds USC’s career record for receiving yards at 3,655 yards. Smith-Schuster is 1,477 yards shy of that mark.

Woods’ career record for receptions is at 252, giving him a 109-catch lead on Smith-Schuster.

Those are some lofty goals to reach in 2016, but they’re actually well within Smith-Schuster’s ability.

Great seasons are the building blocks for great career numbers and Smith-Schuster has put himself in position to make a run at the big boys on USC’s all-time lists.

To break Lee’s record, Smith-Schuster would need to improve on his 2016 totals by a mere 24 yards.

Consider that Smith-Schuster logged more than 1,400 yards as a sophomore despite playing the final seven games of the season with a broken hand.

Before that injury, the Trojan No. 9 was averaging 128 yards per game. After the injury, his average dropped to 79 yards per game.

Lee set the USC and Pac-12 record for yards in a single season at 1,721 in 2012. Smith-Schuster was on pace to break 1,800 yards before the injury.

To be fair, expecting Smith-Schuster to keep up that average throughout the season would be asking a great deal, especially as USC’s offense turned to focus more and more on the rushing attack.

Still, as implausible as 1,800 yards would have been, if Smith-Schuster could complete the third-most prolific season by a Trojan receiver ever, while playing half of the season with a metal plate and eight screws in his hand, then it’s not that much of stretch to think him possible of doing it again –plus 23 yards– in his junior season.

The race for Woods’ record is far more improbable.

The 110 catches necessary to pass Woods would require a huge increase in Smith-Schuster’s production to this point.

Woods himself set a USC and Pac-12 record with 111 catches in a season, marks which were broken only by Lee’s ungodly 2012 total of 118 receptions.

Had Smith-Schuster’s hand remained unbroken, and had he kept to the pace he maintained in the first seven games of the 2015 season, he still wouldn’t have crossed the century mark last year.

Of course, the year before Woods achieved 111 catches, he had logged just 64. And Lee’s total of 118 was preceded by a haul of 73.

So perhaps Smith-Schuster is just a healthy season away from taking the necessary step up to hit that mark.

But there’s another question at stake here: Does USC want Smith-Schuster to put up such prolific numbers?

It’s widely agreed that the Trojans are loaded with talent at wide receiver, which is as deep a unit as USC has ever fielded.

If over-reliance on Smith-Schuster was a noted problem for the Trojan offense in 2015, would it be a sign of trouble if he were targeted often enough to log more than 100 catches?

Moreover, what would it say about the performance of Steven Mitchell, Darreus Rogers, Isaac Whitney, De’Quan Hampton, Ajene Harris and Deontay Burnett, or the brood of talented incoming freshmen –including Michael Pittman and Josh Imatorbhebhe– if it were necessary for Smith-Schuster to supply so much of the offensive production on his own?

On the other hand, Woods was able to set his records in 2011 with Lee pitching in more than 70 catches and 1,100 yards as the No. 2.

Similarly, Lee broke Woods’ single-season records with Woods alongside catching more than 70 passes for more than 800 yards.

Perhaps USC can enjoy the best of both worlds, with Smith-Schuster lighting defenses on fire while the rest of the Trojan receivers rise to the occasion to keep USC’s offense varied and dangerous.

That said, Woods and Lee had a veteran quarterback slinging passes their way in Matt Barkley. Smith-Schuster will be breaking in a first-year quarterback who has yet to be named, either Max Browne or Sam Darnold.

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As much as first year head coach Clay Helton has preached the importance of fielding a balanced attack, a run-heavy offense is likely on the cards as well.

The potential for Smith-Schuster’s number padding will be limited, unlike for Woods and Lee, who enjoyed the particularly focused play-calling of Lane Kiffin.

In all, there are many things that would need to come together for Smith-Schuster to etch his name atop USC’s record books. But it would be unwise to discount a player of his caliber.

One thing is for certain. As incredible as Smith-Schuster’s career is and could become, there is one record he’s not getting near.

With just 15 career touchdowns to his name, Smith-Schuster won’t be challenging Dwayne Jarrett’s 41 career TD mark any time soon.

Everything else is fair game.

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