We are going to keep saying this so no USC fans get nervous: The USC roster was always going to be very fluid and a work in progress heading into the season opener against San Jose State. No one should have expected various position battles to be fully resolved.
USC released its first football depth chart for the 2023 season just before the Week 0 game Saturday versus San Jose State. One of the obvious details that jumps off the page is seven different position battles are unresolved. Seven different positions involve the word “OR” being placed in capital letters between two players or among three players.
No one should be surprised by this. No one.
We will repeat this next point, too: It doesn’t matter who is starting now (except for, of course, Caleb Williams and Justin Dedich). USC plays three very easy games to start the schedule, then has an off week on Saturday, Sept. 16. Who starts on Saturday, Sept. 23 at Arizona State matters a lot more than who starts against San Jose State. That’s when USC must begin to develop more of a hierarchy on the depth chart and discern which players really do make this team better at each spot.
Most of all, though, what matters is who starts on October 14 at Notre Dame. That’s when the coaching staff must be able to determine the right starters and the right roles.
With those important notes in mind, let’s go through the depth chart and all the stories attached to it: