MarShawn Lloyd means USC should have fresh running backs throughout the 2023 season

Austin Jones was fresh for the UCLA and Notre Dame games last season. MarShawn Lloyd will enable Jones and Raleek Brown to remain fresh throughout 2023.

You surely have heard the news by now: The USC Trojans landed former South Carolina running back MarShawn Lloyd, who ran for 573 yards and 9 TDs this past season, while also gaining 176 yards on 18 receptions. MarShawn Lloyd is a former top-50 recruit in the 2020 class.

The 247 composite considered Lloyd the third-best player in Maryland, the fourth-best running back in the country, and the No. 33 player overall. He is from Delaware but traveled every day to DeMatha Catholic HS in Maryland when he attended high school.

USC’s running back room just got crowded with the addition of Lloyd. Quinten Joyner, A’marion Peterson, Austin Jones and Raleek Brown will all be featured on the depth chart for the Trojans in 2023.

If you remember how the 2022 sesaon unfolded, you know that Austin Jones played really well against UCLA and Notre Dame. He was fresh, having received few carries when Travis Dye was healthy.

Lloyd’s arrival means that with Jones and Raleek Brown already in the rotation, USC will be able to rotate running backs a lot so that no one gets overloaded. What happened in 2022 with Austin Jones being fresh for the final few games of the season in November should become a season-long reality. Everyone should be fresh throughout the season, because no one should be overextended in a running back room this deep. Lincoln Riley can spread around the carries and give defenses a lot of different looks.

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