Going into spring practice, it looked as if the USC Trojans had one of college football's top defensive end trios with Nick Perry, Armond Armstead and Wes Horton.
Perry, Horton and Armstead combined for 11 sacks and 20 tackles for loss last season and the three of them were expected to battle it out for the two top starting positions this spring.
That didn't happen, however, as Armstead was forced to miss spring practice as a medical precaution.
In fact, no one is quite certain yet exactly what Armstead’s status is for the upcoming season.
If he fails to get medical clearance to play, it would be a big blow to the depth of the defensive front seven.
Armstead is one of the most talented defensive linemen in the Pac-12, and it appeared that he was ready to have a dominant senior campaign in 2011 before an unforeseen health scare popped up.
Seeing the type of scenario the team could be facing for the future, Lane Kiffin, and his coaching staff opted to move junior Devon Kennard from middle linebacker to defensive end.
Kennard, who finished fourth on the team with 72 tackles in 2010, started off his Trojan career at defensive end before making the switch to strongside linebacker in the latter part of his freshman season.
The 6’3", 250-pound junior is a versatile athlete who has the skills to handle a variety of defensive duties.
Kennard is a former 5-star defensive end recruit out of Arizona’s Desert Vista High School, who was originally expected to develop into a dominant edge rusher at USC.
Now that Kennard’s back at defensive end, which seems like his most natural position, it should be interesting to see how big of a role he’ll play in the three-man rotation with Nick Perry and West Horton.
If Armstead is indeed out or if he ends up getting kicked inside to defensive tackle, you’ll probably see Kennard and Perry starting, while Horton will see his fair share of snaps in consistent relief duty.
Perry, a 6’3", 250-pound junior, has been talking the talk this offseason after racking up 13 sacks over the last two years.
The Perry-Kennard-Horton combination should be very efficient when it comes to causing disruption in the opponent’s backfield. But you have to wonder if this move is like taking the gum off of one hole in the dam to plug another.
Kennard’s move to defensive end leaves only Chris Galippo and Shane Horton as the only two members of the linebacker corps who finished with more than 10 tackles last season.
In 2010, USC counted on the front seven to be the anchor of the defense while a young secondary took its lumps.
The result was fair but by no means fantastic.
The Trojans ended up ranking sixth in the conference in rush defense and seventh in total defense.
With the move of Kennard, the USC defense should now definitely be able bump its sack total up from 27 last season. But it remains to be seen if the front seven, as a whole, will be all that much improved.
Kennard leaves a big void in the middle of the defense, and if it isn’t filled properly, the unit could struggle again.
Tricia Vessey Aki Ross Ashley Tappin Carmen Electra Amanda Marcum
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