Trojans’ line in flux, or ready to flex?

Kris O’Dowd is not in the habit of debating his coaches.

But as USC prepared for the first practice of training camp today , the sophomore center grinned and said he would have to “politely disagree,” with Coach Pete Carroll’s assessment that the offensive line, the Trojans’ biggest question mark, could still be in flux by the time USC opens the season Aug. 30 at Virginia.

“I definitely feel like we’ll have the five by the end of training camp,” O’Dowd said.

Carroll said on Tuesday that he would not “rush to judgment” on decisions regarding an offensive line that must replace four starters, including first-round NFL draft pick Sam Baker and second-round pick Chilo Rachal.

With 16 offensive linemen in camp, Carroll sounded less than optimistic that the staff would be completely done evaluating all of the potential combinations by the time the Trojans depart for Charlottesville, Va.

“I don’t think we’ll be able to have all the information in,” he said.

This much seems certain: O’Dowd will start at center and senior Jeff Byers will play left guard. Butch Lewis and Charles Brown could get work at both tackle spots. Zack Heberer, Thomas Herring and Alex Parsons are competing for the right guard spot.

Nick Howell, Michael Reardon, Martin Coleman could figure in the rotation, as could first-year freshmen Matt Kalil, Matt Meyer, Khaled Holmes and Tyron Smith.

O’Dowd acknowledged the large number, but was not dissuaded from his opinion.

“It’s possible for us to have a solid five when we go to Virginia,” he said.

 gary.klein@latimes.com