USC football recruiting class of 2019 finishes Early Signing Day back in Top 25

The USC football recruiting class of 2019 finished Early Signing Day with a higher ranking than they started, but with plenty of rungs still to climb.

USC football opened Early Signing Day 2019 with a lower-than-usual rank in the 274Sports composite class rankings.

The Trojans sat No. 28 with questions swirling around Clay Helton and company’s ability to hit enough home runs to rise enough to continue the streak of five consecutive Top 10 recruiting classes. After all, efforts on the recruiting trail were hampered by a 5-7 season and a major coaching staff shake up.

By the time the final letter of intent for the Early Signing Day was faxed in, USC had indeed risen, but not terribly high.

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USC finished the day ranked No. 21 in the 247Sports composite team rankings,

The improvement can be linked back to the additions of recruits like four-star defensive end Drake Jackson (No. 165 in the class), three-star safety Briton Allen (No. 394), three-star linebacker Ralen Goforth (No. 431), three-star defensive tackle Dejon Benton (No. 1,168) and three-star defensive end Nick Figueroa (No. 20 in JUCO).

Still, many Trojan fans aren’t terribly enthusiastic about overtaking No. 22 South Carolina, No. 23 Ole Miss and No. 24 Nebraska while still trailing No. 20 Arkansas as well as Pac-12 foes like No. 18 Stanford, No. 15 Washington and No. 5 Oregon.

The question now is what this Early Signing Day means in the grand scheme, considering even USC’s class of 18 signees is still very incomplete.

The Trojans are still hot on the trail of five-star prospects like athlete Bru McCoy and wide receiver Kyle Ford. They are also in the mix for Top 200 recruits like four-star cornerback Chris Steele, four-star offensive guard Enokk Vimahi and four-star safety Noa Pola-Gates with plenty of room to go out and get them.

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This is when the 247Sports class calculator, which allows you to create a hypothetical score for a hypothetical class, comes in handy.

If you plug in that quartet of prospects into USC’s current class, which would total 25 scholarship players, and you would come away with the fifth-ranked class in the country.

That’s not to say the Trojans will pull off such an impressive finish for the class. However, Helton’s staff has done well to close in the past. Moreover, USC is currently the Crystal Ball favorite for at least McCoy, Ford and Vimahi.

If it’s just those three added to the Early Signing Day haul, USC still rises to rank of No. 10 nationally.

What does all that mean? USC’s biggest prospects are still on the board, meaning the Trojans’ ability to salvage a strong class despite the turmoil around the program is still very much intact.

All that’s left is to wait and see.