Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports
Once spring practice ends and classes for the semester come to a close, coaches around the country clinch their teeth hoping everyone stays healthy and improves their game over the summer without issue. It appears clinched teeth may not have worked for Lane Kiffin, as multiple reports suggest incoming USC Trojans freshman wideout Steven Mitchell suffered an injury in voluntary drills today which could have him miss significant time.
The initial reports do not look good, and, if in fact Mitchell is out for the first part of the 2013 season it could be a big blow to a Trojans wide receiving corps which lacks depth. Only Heisman Trophy candidate Marqise Lee and Nelson Agholor are productive returners from the 2012 Trojans. The duo caught 137 passes for 2,061 yards and 16 touchdowns between them, with Lee carrying most of that load. With the departure of Robert Woods to the NFL as well, Mitchell arrived in Los Angeles with an opportunity to make a quick impact.
The extent of Mitchell’s injury is not yet known, and there’s plenty of time left before workouts get underway for 2013, but this type of news is always a bother to a program which has struggled like the Trojans have the past few seasons.
De’Von Flournoy would be the first candidate to see more time this fall should Mitchell’s injury turn out to be serious enough time is missed. Of the remaining receivers on the USC depth chart, Flournoy is the highest on the depth chart. Darreus Rogers and George Katrib are two others worth a mention in this respect, but both missed significant time during spring drills for a variety of reasons.
We hope for good news for Steven Mitchell, as always is the case, but know as well USC has some nerves to deal with over the course of the next few days.
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Kris Hughes is a Senior Writer for Rant Sports. You can follow Kris on Twitter, Google and Facebook
