Clay Helton: New QB's Show 'Sparks of Brilliance' in Spring Camp

Clay Helton evaluates freshman QB's Jaxson Dart and Miller Moss spring ball performance thus far.

Samantha Levy | Apr 4, 2021

Week one of spring ball is officially in the books, which means USC fans finally get a closer look at how the quarterback room is progressing in 2021.

Day Three - USC Spring Camp - (Alex Verdugo/USC Football)

New freshman QB's, Jaxson Dart and Miller Moss, now have the opportunity to show off their assets for the USC Trojans, and learn Graham Harrell's playbook - since enrolling early this spring.

Kedon Slovis returns for a third year as the presumed starter for the Men of Troy, and although it's likely that Dart and Moss won't start until Slovis departs for the NFL, enrolling early certainly serves as an advantage for each QB's development at the college level.

Clay Helton spoke with the media on Saturday prior to the teams first full padded practice and evaluated his initial reactions of Dart and Moss thus far in spring camp.

"[The young quarterbacks need to] try to get comfortable within the system and doing three things: being great decision makers, getting the ball out on time because obviously the college game is a little bit faster than the high school game and the timing of getting that ball out, and being an accurate passer.”

Helton went on to say, “Both of them show sparks of brilliance and both of them have shown [moments of] coming out of high school, which is going to happen. But [we] have been really pleased [with] their sense of urgency. [They] remind me a lot of Kedon when he [first] got here. Just their sense of urgency to be great, to put in the extra work that they’ve done not only in the film room but how they’re really taking command on the field.”

Both players enrolled early at USC after signing with the Trojans in December. Dart, the Utah native, competed in the fall with his high school football team, while Moss missed those reps due to the state of California's COVID-19 restrictions.

Moss was the No. 6 overall quarterback in the state of California [per 247Sports] while Dart ranked No. 2 in the state of Utah [per 247Sports]. Both players are incredible talents and have tremendous potential, but as Helton mentioned on Saturday's presser there is always room for improvement.

“I expect that there is going to be those shots of brilliance that you go ‘wow’ [and] that really excites you. [But] there will be some times where you’ll be like ‘come over here bud, stand beside me for a second and let’s talk what just happened’.”[Helton]

USC's next spring practice kicks off on Tuesday, April 5. As spring camp continues to progress expect to hear more about the development of both Moss and Dart, as one of these two men will likely become QB2 this fall.

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