USC football RB depth: Austin Jones, MarShawn Lloyd headline deep group

Six different players could line up in the backfield for the Trojans in 2023

With spring practice in the books, we've released our projected USC football depth chart for the fall. But let's go deeper. Over the course of the next few weeks, we'll release position by position breakdowns of USC's roster.

Who is back from last season? Who's new? Who will have the biggest impact? Who's an under the radar player to watch? What does the future of the position look like?

We'll answer all of those questions and more. 

We started our breakdowns with the quarterbacks, let's move over to the running backs. 

THE ROOM

USC enters the 2023 season with five running backs and one 'tweener. Austin Jones (R-Sr.), MarShawn Lloyd (R-Jr.), Darwin Barlow (R-Sr.), Quinten Joyner (Fr.) and A'Marion Peterson (Fr.) will all compete for playing time. 

After playing running back all of last season when he was healthy, Raleek Brown (So.) has moved over to slot receiver this spring. He's still expected to have some role in the run game though.

Lloyd and the two freshmen both joined the team this year. Lloyd transferred in from South Carolina and Joyner and Peterson were early enrollees. 

DEPTH CHART

1. Austin Jones (R-Sr.) OR MarShawn Lloyd (R-Jr.)

2. Darwin Barlow (R-Sr.) OR Quinten Joyner (Fr.) OR A'Marion Peterson (Fr.)

3. Raleek Brown (So.)

Jones and Lloyd will take the bulk of the carries. Behind those two, the race for the third running back spot is open with Brown moving to receiver. 

Joyner had the best spring game of the reserves and will likely get a strong look, but Barlow and Peterson will also compete to backup Jones and Lloyd during fall camp.

2022 STATS

Jones: 135 carries for 705 yards (5.2 yards per carry), 5 touchdowns, 25 receptions for 267 yards, 1 touchdown

Lloyd (at South Carolina): 111 carries for 573 yards (5.2 yards per carry), 9 touchdowns, 18 receptions for 176 yards, 2 touchdowns

Barlow: 16 carries for 96 yards (6.0 yards per carry), 3 touchdowns, 3 receptions for 34 yards

Brown: 42 carries for 227 yards (5.4 yards per carry), 3 touchdowns, 16 catches for 175 yards, 3 touchdowns

WHAT TO EXPECT

If Jones and Lloyd stay healthy, they'll make up one of the top running back tandems in the country. There's also a chance that one of the freshman backs practices so well they leave Lincoln Riley with no choice but to give them carries. This is a deep and talented room.

Brown will play a Swiss army knife role in the fall. Look for him to line up all over the place including still in the backfield. 

It's tough to envision a major role for Barlow, the one player in the room who wasn't recruited by Riley.

THEY SAID IT

Jones has high expectations for USC's offense this fall.

“We averaged what, 41 points per game [last season]? Boost it to 50," he said following a practice session earlier this month. 

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Part of the reason why USC recruited Lloyd in the offseason was because of his immense potential, according to USC running backs coach Kiel McDonald.

"He's got a chance to do some very, very special things here at USC,” McDonald said.

In the 2020 recruiting cycle, Lloyd was the No. 43 ranked prospect in the nation by 247Sports.com. 

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Barlow has embraced the competition that's come from USC's new additions this spring:

“Competition just brings that dog out of you, and I feel like I was built for it — built to compete,” he said. “It’s going to help me grow throughout this spring, and I’m thankful for it and wouldn’t want it any other way.”

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After the spring game, where Joyner and Peterson both scored touchdowns, Lloyd raved about his young teammates.

"The true freshman running backs are amazing," Lloyd said. "I tell them that every day. They're really, really good backs. They don't even seem like freshmen to me. They're still getting the playbook, but they're very hard workers and it's only up from here for them."

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On Thursday, Riley gave a health update on Brown and detailed how the staff sees him fitting in on offense.

"Given that he missed essentially half of spring with a soft tissue injury, we decided just to focus in on some of the perimeter work and receiver work [this spring]," Riley said. ... "We ended up doing that the majority of the spring where I think the plan was to get him in the backfield and do a little bit of all of it and we didn't quite get there. Obviously his experience in the backfield going back to last year is still there and extremely valuable going forward."

WHAT DOES THE FUTURE OF THE POSITION LOOK LIKE?

Lloyd could return in 2024 if he chooses. He'd be USC's feature back if he did come back. Joyner and Peterson feel like future pillars of the Trojans' offense. This upcoming season will tell us a lot about Brown and the role the staff envisions for him. 

USC has recruited the running back position hard so far in the 2024 cycle. There's a good chance the Trojans sign multiple running backs from the high school ranks in 2024. In fact, we expect a running back commitment to come in the next few hours...