Ayles hoping to be well for spring

Erik McKinney
WeAreSC Assistant Editor

When tight end Blake Ayles stepped onto the USC campus as a true freshman in 2008, most experts had him pegged as the member of the 2008 recruiting class most likely to make an immediate impact on the football field.

With Fred Davis and his Mackey Award departing to the NFL, the Trojans were left with a huge hole at tight end, and Ayles figured to go a long way toward replacing Davis and his 62 receptions for 881 yards and eight touchdowns.

For a true freshman, Ayles did contribute rather quickly, catching at least one pass in the Trojans’ first five games. But Ayles could never quite shake a knee injury that cropped up midway through the year and sidelined him for the final eight games.

In his place, tight ends Anthony McCoy and Rhett Ellison combined for 26 catches for 314 yards and a touchdown in 2008, as the receiving production was largely picked up by the Trojans’ top three wide receivers.

But in 2009, the Trojans will be without wide receiver Patrick Turner, who finished with 49 catches for 741 yards and team-high ten touchdowns. And with a new starter at quarterback scheduled to take snaps in the fall, developing a rapport with his tight ends as a security blanket could prove to be an important aspect of spring ball.

At this point, Ayles said his knee is about 70 percent healthy and he’s yet to take part in any of the seven-on-sevens with his teammates. His hope is to be back on the field by the start of spring ball.

“The motion is okay with it,” Ayles said of his knee. “But as soon as I try to get after it, I can feel right where it hurts.”

It would be one thing if Ayles was only dealing with a knee injury, but he said that there’s also a groin issue he’s dealing with, which has bothered him through high school and during his first year at USC.

“That injury was crossing over with my knee injury,” Ayles said. “We’re trying to hit rehab with everything right now. The last couple of weeks, I tried to hit it too hard, so we’re backing off with it right now and it’s feeling pretty good.”

Despite the setback, Ayles said he still hopes to be fully ready when spring ball begins on March 28.

“I’m just trying to get out there,” Ayles said of spring ball. “I want to be there at 100 percent, but if not, we’ll go from there. I just want to get out and feel good, feel comfortable with myself. Other than that, it’s just trying to keep up with the playbook.”

Both McCoy and Ellison return with Ayles in 2009, but with just three tight ends on the roster, health becomes a major issue, particularly for Ayles, who could develop into a serious threat in the passing game.

“We’ve got a few guys who can play,” Ayles said. “But that’s all we have are a few guys. It’s just us three. We’re definitely going to have to try and stay healthy throughout the season, but other than that, we know how to have fun with each other and how to compete with each other.”

If Ayles can indeed stay healthy for his sophomore season, he’ll undoubtedly improve upon the numbers (six catches for 41 yards and one touchdown) he produced as a freshman. Not only could he become a big-time redzone threat, he has the speed to stretch the middle of the field and the tenacity to play a role in the running game as well.

With spring ball rapidly approaching, the team is abundantly aware of the oncoming quarterback battle, and Ayles is certainly more comfortable with one of the options. With Aaron Corp, Ayles’ former teammate at Orange Lutheran, fighting for the starting role, Ayles feels that good things could happen with him at the helm.

“I know he likes to scramble a bit and from high school I know he likes to utilize the tight end,” Ayles said. “So he’d be getting us the ball a lot this year.”

Of course, if the three tight end options are healthy, it probably won’t matter who is playing quarterback. Finding Ayles, McCoy and Ellison should be an easy task.

If Ayles does become the first or second option at tight end this season, it will be interesting to see how the new offensive coaching staff utilizes that position and especially someone as talented as Ayles.

To this point, the Trojans haven’t really been afforded any time with new coach Jeremy Bates in practices, but Ayles said he has a feel for what he and coach John Morton will bring to the Trojan offense.

“Coach Morton filled right in with Sark (Steve Sarkisian) out, trying to get us pumped up,” Ayles said. “We’ll see throughout the season how the playbook progresses, but we’re thinking there’s good things to come from the new coaches.”