Breaking down USC's quarterback situation in 2024 with Caleb Williams heading to the NFL

USC hasn’t had to worry about quarterback whatsoever over the past two seasons with Caleb Williams. Now, with him very likely heading for the 2024 NFL Draft, the Trojans will have to face the reality of life after their latest Heisman in a significant decision for the program.

WeAreSC’s Erik McKinney joined on during ‘Andy Staples On3’ on Sunday to discuss Williams’ potential replacement. He referenced some of Lincoln Riley’s own non-answers following the Trojans’ loss to UCLA in their season finale. Still, the fact of the matter to him is that, whether they think it’s on their roster or in the transfer portal, Riley is going to find a top-notch quarterback one way or another.

“So Lincoln Riley was asked specifically about that – ‘You typically take a quarterback every year’, ‘there isn’t one in this class’. They’ve got a big-time guy committed down the line a little bit,” McKinney started. “He’s asked about the portal and he was kind of noncommittal about it – still a long way to go, not going to say we won’t, not going to say we will.”

“Lincoln Riley coaches Heisman Trophy-winning, No. 1 overall picks at quarterback. If he doesn’t believe he has that in one of those two guys? He will absolutely, I feel, go get somebody out of the portal that he feels really good about,” said McKinney.

As far as options currently on the team, that comes down to Miller Moss and Malachi Nelson. Moss, a former four-star and Top-15 QB in ’21, will be redshirt junior next season. Meanwhile, Nelson, a former five-star and the No. 5 QB from ’23, will be in his second collegiate campaign.

Neither are close heirs to Williams yet either would be decent options for the Trojans. However, with only 35 combined pass attempts from them this season, their inexperience makes their candidacies as QB1 a major unknown

“USC fans? And for us watching Miller Moss? (He’s) fully competent. I mean he has been in the system now, he’s a really smart player, team guy. He can run a little bit, he has got a little bit of that athleticism, he throws it well. I don’t think there’s any sense of ‘this offense is going to crater’ if you go with Miller Moss,” said McKinney. “Malachi Nelson? There’s some weight room stuff and that was stuff that you knew from him as a high school player. But he can throw it.”

“That’s really where the past two years of USC not being able to not put enough blowouts and separate? You thought that those two guys, or at least Miller Moss, would just get more time, more time on the field to kind of show, ‘Yeah, I can operate in this offense,'” McKinney explained. “When they couldn’t do that and Caleb Williams had to take games all the way to the end? You lost that chance to see if they really could operate in the offense.”

With all that said, McKinney officially answered by saying that he believes Riley and USC will dabble in the portal this offseason. There’s no telling who might be available and what it would take to get them but, in the end, he expect them to at least look around for their next quarterback through that channel.

“Right now, if I had to guess and it’s a yes or no? I think that they absolutely look into the portal to see what’s in there,” said McKinney. “You can target a lot of guys. Then it becomes this sort of bidding war of can that team keep them and do they actually jump in? You know how it is with quarterbacks.”

“We’ll see how that plays out. I have to think that they’ll definitely take an eye to it,” said McKinney.