USC’s Steve Sarkisian hopes his players make educated decisions

The NFL draft is six months away, but with high-profile players such as Leonard Williams and other draft-eligible juniors such as receiver Nelson Agholor and tailback Javorius Allen, Coach Steve Sarkisian is preparing to counsel players about the pitfalls of looking too far ahead.

Williams is at or near the top of several mock drafts produced for television or online.

“More than anything, I just don’t want it to affect his play — that he holds back in any way or he’s trying to save himself, which he hasn’t done,” Sarkisian said Thursday. “I don’t want to imply that at all. He has not done that. But that’s always one of the concerns as a coach.”

Sarkisian was referring to talk last season that surrounded former South Carolina defensive end Jadeveon Clowney and whether he was “saving himself or not.”

Clowney was the first player selected in the 2014 draft.

Williams, 6 feet 5 and 300 pounds, has played through shoulder and ankle injuries this season. He is third on the team in tackles and has a team-best four sacks.

Last week against Arizona, Williams made eight tackles, including one that stopped a two-point conversion that would have tied the score.

Coaches held Williams out of practice Tuesday and Wednesday — “If it were up to him, he’d go,” Sarkisian said — and Williams was present for Thursday’s workout, which was closed to the media.

The junior is expected to play Saturday against Colorado at the Coliseum, Sarkisian said.

After last season, Trojans receiver Marqise Lee, offensive lineman Marcus Martin, defensive back Dion Bailey, tight end Xavier Grimble and defensive lineman George Uko made themselves available for the draft.

Lee and Martin were second- and third-round picks, respectively. The others were not drafted.

“I wish I had a better relationship with those kids that left early because I think maybe a couple of them, a few of them maybe, would have made a little better decision or at least had more information,” said Sarkisian, who was hired in December.

“Hopefully, this time around our guys are really well-informed and they make really educated decisions, not emotional ones, that are in their best interest.”

Food for thought

Cornerback Kevon Seymour said he was forced to leave the game against Arizona because of stomach cramps, but he is expected to start against Colorado.

“I ate breakfast, but I skipped lunch and pretty much skipped the pregame meal because my stomach was bothering me,” he said. “So I didn’t have any fuel to run on.”

Seymour was hospitalized before training camp because of an ailment that caused him to lose weight.

He intends to prepare better before Saturday’s game.

“I’ve just got to make sure I do a better job of just eating, even if it’s not big meals and just small portions, so I can have some fuel to run on,” he said.

Updated look

Sarkisian is prepared for some backlash when the Trojans wear metallic-tinted helmets with chrome facemasks on Saturday.

“You’re not going to please everybody,” he said. “And for as many people as there are that want us not to change a thing and still wear the same cleats and whatever else, there’s as many people that want something new.”

Many major programs have alternate uniforms or have experimented with them. Oregon, of course, is the leader in multiple uniforms and accents. UCLA and Notre Dame also have alternate uniforms.

“It was a way to kind of update our look in a sense, but yet hold on to our tradition,” Sarkisian said. “This is a way to freshen things up a little bit but also respect our past.”

Sarkisian said he thought the helmets were “really cool.”

“We’ll see how they look Saturday,” he said. “I’ll like them a lot more if we win.”

Quick hits

Fullback Soma Vainuku and receiver Ajene Harris are not expected to play Saturday. Both have hamstring injuries. … USC is 8-0 in its all-time football series against Colorado.

gary.klein@latimes.com

Twitter: @latimesklein