USC Trojans' Lincoln Riley 'Excited' About Running Backs Eli Sanders, Waymond Jordan

Jordan rushed for 1,614 yards on 218 carries and 20 touchdowns in 12 games this past season, which earned him NJCAA DI Offensive Player of the Year honors. He averaged 134.5 yards per game and lead his team to a national championship. 

Sanders and Jordan are valuable additions for the Trojans offense, but USC also return a pair of running backs in sophomore Bryan Jackson and redshirt sophomore A’Marion Peterson. Jackson appeared in all 13 games in 2024. His best performance came in the regular season finale against Notre Dame when he helped step in for an injured Marks. Jackson carried the ball six times for 71 yards. 

With Marks and Joyner gone, Jackson and Peterson split duties in the Trojans thrilling win over Texas A&M in the Las Vegas Bowl. 

“We were excited about the way Bryan and AP played in the bowl game,” Riley said. "Thought they did some really good things when they kind of got their moment to step up and they both had an impact for us on special teams and throughout the year and the snaps they got offensively did a good job.

“Obviously you add in the two older guys right now with Eli and Waymo. Those are two different skill sets, a little bit different body types. Waymond’s really compact, really kind of moves effortlessly and obviously a ton of production at Hutch. Eli’s explosive, I mean you just see his explosion, it just kind of jumps off the tape already, which is what we saw on tape," Riley continued.

“He averaged big time yards per carry, but I think really brings a real explosive aspect to the room and excited to see King [Miller], excited to get Riley Wormley back healthy, so it’s a good group, it’ll be fun to see how it plays out. Maybe as diverse a room as we’ve had in the years here at SC in terms of just the varied skillset, experience levels. It’ll be a lot of fun to find out what these guys do well and see how that room shakes out," said Riley.

Wormley, a three-star recruit in the 2025 class is recovering from a season-ending knee injury he suffered his senior year. 

The Trojans running back room is deep and talented. Sanders and Jordan are the favorites to lead the room, but Jackson and Peterson will be fighting all spring and into fall camp to be featured in the rotation. 

Marks received a bulk of the carries in 2024, but because of the wide skillset in the Trojans backfield, they could move away from having a singular bellcow in 2025. Four-star running back Harry Dalton will join the room in the summer.