USC Football Recruiting: Breaking Down the 2017 Cornerbacks

Prospects at cornerback for USC football in 2017 are strong, but the Trojans could still dip into the recruiting pool for reinforcements.

As the Trojans wave goodbye to the Adoree’ Jackson era, the coaching staff turns to the problem—as if this were possible—of replacing one of the most electric players in the programs storied history.

Nonetheless, USC’s brain trust will peer into the recruiting horizon and attempt to find reasonable facsimile of Jackson and his immense talent.

And while there are no Jackson’s in this recruiting cycle, there is some serious talent that the Trojans could use going forward in 2017 and beyond.

As of this writing, the Trojans cornerback roster looks like this:

Year:

Iman Marshall

Sophomore

Kevin Carrasco

Junior (RS)

Ajene Harris

Sophomore (RS)

Jalen Jones

Sophomore (RS)

Jack Jones

Freshman

Isaiah Langley

Sophomore

Jonathon Lockett

Junior

Keyshawn Young

Freshman

On the surface, it appears the Trojans are in good shape for the upcoming year at this position.

Iman Marshall will go into the 2017 season firmly locked into a starting position on one side and if things go as planned, young Jack Jones will step up to take the other side.

Meanwhile, Ajene Harris be inserted into nickel packages and Lockett and Langley will see time in certain packages too.

Still, USC will likely take up to three cornerbacks in this cycle and so far, they have one verbal commit—Je’Quari Godfrey—for this class.

Seeking to firm up the position, USC has no less than 25 offers to prospective future Trojans but while this seems impressive, only six are not already committed to other programs.

Here are those six players and their level of interest in USC per 247sports.com:

Stars:

Level of Interest:

Deommordore Lenoir

****

Warm

Christopher Henderson

****

Cool

Ameer Speed

***

Cool

Latavious Brini

***

Cool

Samuel Barnes

***

Cool

Wylan Free

***

De-committed

Tony Wallace—an Arizona commit—looked like a strong possibility to don the cardinal and gold after visiting USC this weekend, but shortly after his trip the two-star announced that he has shut down his recruitment and will sign with the Wildcats

More from Reign of Troy

• Five USC football recruiting stories to watch for on Early Signing Day for 2021
• USC football’s playoff hopes sorely hurt by latest College Football Playoff ranking
• 3 biggest takeaways from USC football’s win over UCLA
• USC football to play Oregon in Pac-12 Championship Game with Washington out
• USC football’s postgame locker room after beating UCLA was absolutely lit (Video)

One other possibility is Greg Johnson, designated as an “athlete,” but likely to play cornerback should the dynamic player sign with the Trojans.

All in all, the chips would have fall right for USC to fill the quota desired for this year’s incoming class.

And while falling short of signing recruits for this position would not necessarily constitute a need for hand wringing, it does put pressure on the staff to find even more cornerbacks for the 2018 recruiting cycle.

As is the case for recruiting every year, only time will tell how this plays out for this position in 2017.

Just the way the way it should—and will be.