A look at USC recruiting under PC and how it might apply to the Seahawks

Disclaimer, a lot of this is based upon my memories as an under grad at USC and my time spent watching the team since graduating. I tried to fill in some of the holes with sites such as Rivals, mostly to remind myself how some of these guys were viewed coming out of HS. I don't contend to be a pro or anything and obviously recruiting at a college powerhouse is not quite the same as drafting in the NFL but I thought maybe it would be worth a look.

I'm going to only post up one part of this to see what kind of thoughts people have on the format and information. That way if there are a lot of suggestions I can refine and improve the other sections.

Year Name Rivals Position Classification
2003 John David Booty Pro Style QB
2004 Rocky Hinds Dual Threat QB
2005 Mark Sanchez Pro Style QB
2006 Garett Green Dual Threat QB
2007 Aaron Corp Dual Threat QB
2009 Matt Barkley Pro Style QB

History/Context
While many people will think of Matt Leinart, Matt Cassel and Carson Palmer it is important to remember that all 3 of those guys were recruited by Paul Hackett. Palmer was always considered a top notch QB prospect but he went through 3 OCs his first 3 years at USC and it wasn't until year 2 under Norm Chow that he really took off. Leinart was more Chow's baby than he was Pete's. Booty left HS early to enroll with the Trojans and was actually considered a lock to start as a true freshman until Leinart's emergence. Rocky Hinds red-shirted at USC for a year before transferring to UNLV. Garrett Green won a lot of awards in HS where he was an accurate passer and good runner but was only considered a 3 star prospect by Rivals. He bounced around several positions while at USC. Aaron Corp was a better version of Green in HS and was expected to be the starter at USC this year (although some contend the job was always Barkley's to lose) and to provide an extra dimension to the USC offense with his legs.

Analysis/Patterns
At USC there is something of an expectation by the fans that the QB will be a tall, rocket armed, confident kid preferably from Orange County. 3 of the 5 QBs under PC fit this and Leinart covered all of it sans the rocket arm. In terms of what PC likes/expects going forward I think Barkley and Sanchez are really his ideal models. Assuming the offense is similar to what USC ran last year, Pete and Jeremy are going to prefer someone capable of selling the play fake, and mobile enough to roll out and throw on the run. Despite all the dual threat QBs that USC went after the guys who started were never run first types, but they were generally all capable of evading a rush and throwing outside of the pocket. I personally think that Pete also prefers a guy with a strong arm who can throw deep but I have a feeling that this isn't his number one tool in a QB (as evidenced by picking Leinart as the starter back in 2004).

How this applies to the current roster/draft prospects
I think that moving forward, PC is obvious going to want to find his type of QB. Hasslebeck isn't really it, and Wallace looks more like the kinds of guys he kept recruiting and then never giving a chance to play. Of the top guys the only one who sticks out at me as being the PC kind of guy is Jimmy Clausen. John's already done a great write up on Clausen and Pete so I won't rehash that. No one else in this draft makes sense to me from this perspective.