The transfer portal is popping, with several hundred players already in and many more to come. USC football running back Quinten Joyner has entered the transfer portal. This complicates the Trojans’ running back situation heading into 2025.
USC, under Lincoln Riley, has primarily featured one running back per season. In 2022, it was Travis Dye, with Austin Jones becoming RB1 only after Dye got hurt late in the season. In 2023, MarShawn Lloyd was the main running back, with others in the running back room getting a relatively limited amount of carries and touches. In 2024, Woody Marks was the main running back, with Joyner playing second fiddle. It’s not as though Marks’ workload was undeserved; Marks was the best player on the USC offense, arguably the whole team. Eddie Czaplicki and pre-injury Eric Gentry were the other stars of the team on special teams and defense, respectively.
If anything, one could make the argument Woody Marks wasn’t used enough. On a larger level, however, Quinten Joyner has reason to think Lincoln Riley didn’t use him as well as he possibly could, if only because USC didn’t run the ball as much as it probably should have.
At any rate, this creates a less certain situation for the USC running back room next season. The transfer portal whirlwind is only just beginning.