Top CFB analyst gives USC football a chance to win the National Championship in 2022

USC football has both caught many strays from the media this offseason, and also received high praise from the media this offseason. Some media members are actively rooting for USC to fall flat on their faces from now on, and some of them already list them as National Championship contenders.

One of those who is rather bullish on SC's chances this season, is PFF's Anthony Treash. He even has now gone as far as saying that "the Trojans can make a (national) title run" from a pure talent standpoint. In fact, he even said that "there's no denying that":

While USC is not likely to win a national title, Treash clearly likes the pieces they have in place on the roster. And, it's understandable. While it may be tough to expect these pieces to win the national title, they do have quite a bit of talent for Lincoln Riley to work with.

First of all, USC football returns four starters on the offensive line.

And that 2021 USC football offensive line was rated first in the nation by PFF. Heck, the one spot they had open was filled by ACC Honorable Mention Bobby Haskins. All great teams start with a strong foundation up front, and USC has that on offense for sure.

On defense, they have some unknowns due to Brandon Pili and Nick Figueroa's injury history, but they do have a Preseason Pac-12 First-Team All-Conference selection in DT Tuli Tuipulotu. They also have 2021 No. 2 recruit in all of America--DE Korey Foreman (all recruiting ratings and rankings in article are as of 247Sports).

Talent isn't their issue up front on defense either. Sure, Foreman hasn't proven himself yet, but that doesn't mean the talent isn't there. He was the No. 12 recruit in 247Sports history; talent is clearly not the issue on the defensive line. Inexperience and injury history is.

In the linebacking crew, they have multiple guys who were freshman All-Americans in Eric Gentry and Shane Lee. Gentry is due for another monster year as he comes off that Freshman AA campaign.

While Lee's terrific freshman season was in 2019, he still proved then that he has the talent. While his last big season was 2019, players don't lose talent. Therefore, Treash simply sees this squad as one that has championship-level talent.

It's similar to how LB Raesjon Davis has not have proven much yet, but was still a top 49 overall player in the 2021 recruiting class. He's not proven to be a high-impact guy yet, but his talent is not in question.

Heck, Solomon Tuliaupupu is finally healthy now. He was the No. 3 ILB in his 2018 class. Talent isn't his problem. Injury history is, but if he stays healthy the sky is the limit. Hence why Treash believes in this team the way he does.

Look at the secondary: Domani Jackson comes in as the fifth overall recruit in the entire 2022 class. SC also just scooped two four-star transfer DBs as well in CB1 Mekhi Blackmon and CB/S Latrell McCutchin.

Likely starting safeties Xavion Alford and Calen Bullock, as well as Nickelback Max Williams were all four-star recruits. The secondary most certainly doesn't lack talent.

And looking back over at the offense, USC's really looking loaded. They have not only a ridiculously talented QB in Caleb Williams, but one who's already elite. He averaged 9.1 yards per pass attempt and 5.6 yards per rush attempt last season as just a true freshman.

Not even starting until the second half of the season, his 27 total touchdowns looked even more impressive. Now, he adds the 2021 Biletnikoff winner in Jordan Addison who caught 100 balls for 1,593 receiving yards and 17 receiving touchdowns last season. He already has chemistry with him, too, as they grew up together.

The best part about this new-look WR corps is that the built-in chemistry doesn't even stop with the connection between Williams and Mario Williams. Mario was one of Caleb's favorite targets at OU in their true freshman seasons last year. In fact, Mario had more catches than the Sooner's No. 1 wide receiver--Marvin Mims.

Mario was a four-star transfer, and so was who's likely to be the No. 3 receiver on this USC team; Brenden Rice. Rice was the most dynamic offensive player on Colorado's team last year. Each of these guys have great talent and upside, and were both former blue-chip recruits.

And as far as the running game goes, USC poached an elite RB1 transfer from Oregon in Travis Dye, who led the conference in scrimmage yards last season (1,673) and scored 18 total touchdowns. It's not even just about talent with him--but he's already proven to be one of the top backs in the country.

Even tight end, which is supposed to be the worst position group on the offense, has talent. Malcolm Epps, Jude Wolfe, and Josh Falo aren't even expected to start and they're ALL still ex-four-star recruits and top 10 TE recruits in their class. This squad doesn't lack talent.

Therefore, while it may be a stretch to say that USC can win a National Title when factoring EVERYTHING together, it's not a stretch to simply acknowledge that SC has the talent to win a National Championship. Even then, it would be unlikely, but not completely out of the equation.