USC football: JuJu Smith’s receiver work may preclude a defense role

USC’s 2014 recruiting class included several players who had potential to play either offense or defense.

So far in training camp, only Adoree’ Jackson has played on both sides of the line of scrimmage as a receiver and cornerback.

Coach Steve Sarkisian has indicated that receivers JuJu Smith and Rahshead Johnson would get opportunities on defense. He said last week that coaches might experiment with Smith as a nickel back.

Sarkisian backed off a bit after Monday’s practice.

Smith has been so good on offense, Sarkisian does not want to mess with a good thing.

“The hard part with doing that with JuJu…is that he’s playing so well offensively, that for him to go over and start learning defense would really take away from what he’s doing on offense right now,” Sarkisian said.