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Get ready to hear this phrase quite a bit this season: It's about the prep, not about the hype.

Lane Kiffin is going to say it a lot. Matt Barkley's going to say it a lot. The other players are going to say it a lot, in one form or another.

Heck, Ed Orgeron's probably going to yell it a lot.

The originator of the phrase, at least as it applies to this season and this team, was Kiffin. The first time he said it, though, was late last September, after the Trojans lost to Arizona State by 21 points in Tempe.

The next week, as USC prepared to play Arizona at home in a classic rebound game, he said it over and over in practice. The Trojans barely won that game, but, as the season went on, it started becoming vernacular with the players.

Why did they collectively embrace it? Maybe because it made sense. Maybe because it acknowledged that -- even though they couldn't play in a bowl game -- there was hype surrounding their performances, and then squashed the importance of that hype in the next thought.

Then, after the season-ending 50-0 shellacking of UCLA sparked expectations for 2012 even further, Kiffin stressed it in his final conference call with reporters. And he emphasized it again in his signing day news conference last month. It's nothing short of the official team mantra now, with expectations teeming for a team most experts are ranking as the pre-preseason No. 2 and players insisting it means just about nothing.

"Of course we are going to get that much more attention just because we are eligible this year," Barkley said after Tuesday's spring-opening practice, taking on the official team spokesman role as he often has. "But I'm not looking at it different than any other year that we've had.

"Yeah, we can play for a bowl game and all that stuff, but our preparation, I don't think that can change just because of that."

Said Kiffin: "We're not going to, all of the sudden, prepare any different or coach our players any different or get ready for our opponents any different. We're gonna do the same thing we always do."

Practice didn't look any different Tuesday. There were a few surprise stars and few key mistakes, as usual. Kiffin and Barkley both said it was a positive first-day experience. But the senior signal-caller also said the Trojans have plenty left to do this spring with their 14 remaining practices.

"I think a lot needs to get done every day and for us maybe more than normal, because we have something to prove," Barkley said. "I think we have to have the same mentality that we did last year of wanting to prove something."

Here's USC quarterback Matt Barkley talking to the media following Tuesday's spring-ball opening practice on Howard Jones Field.

The senior-to-be talks about coming into the program as a "young buck" and developing to the point where he's now "almost a coach on the field." He also had some interesting perspective to offer on his personal goals for his final collegiate season, and he had some positive commentary on teammates George Farmer, Robert Woods and Soma Vainuku, among others.

Notes from Tuesday's spring-opening practice not covered in our other posts off the session:

• Players expected to miss the entire spring because of injuries include tight end Christian Thomas (hip), offensive tackle Chad Wheeler (shoulder), defensive tackle Christian Heyward (shoulder), defensive end DeVante Wilson (knee), cornerback Torin Harris (shoulder) and punter Kyle Negrete (shoulder). All six underwent offseason surgeries. Negrete appeared to punt normally in practice but was announced as out for the spring by Kiffin.

• Players who missed all or part of Tuesday's practice because of injury but are expected to return soon include quarterback Jesse Scroggins (hip), running back Curtis McNeal (shoulder), receiver Robert Woods (ankle), tight ends Xavier Grimble (toe) and Junior Pomee (undisclosed) and defensive back Josh Shaw (back). Only Woods' appears anywhere near serious, and Kiffin himself said he at one point thought the junior would suit up Tuesday. He's still recovering from the same ankle injury he suffered last April playing pick-up basketball.

• Shaw, a talented transfer from Florida, has not received a final determination on his hardship waiver from the NCAA. He is petitioning to be able to play this season instead of sitting out a year based on the argument he returned home to be with ailing family members.

• Kiffin said the MVP of the day was receiver-turned-running-back-turned-receiver George Farmer, who we'll have more on later. Fullback Soma Vainuku made the play of the day with a diving catch on a Matt Barkley throw. Barkley called the play "Havili-esque" afterward after former USC fullback Stanley Havili, who graduated in 2011.

• Forty-one USC students participated in walk-on tryouts during the tail end of practice -- more than twice as many as have come out in the spring or fall in recent years.

• Weight gains and losses: right tackle Aundrey Walker says he is down to 320 pounds after measuring in at 375 on his official visit last January. McNeal says he is up to 195 pounds -- 10 more than what he was at during last season. Left guard Marcus Martin is now listed at 325, a 15-pound drop from last season.

Here's video from USC coach Lane Kiffin's extended interview with reporters following the Trojans' spring practice opener on Tuesday. He addresses his overall feelings surrounding the team's first day of practice, announces his first-day MVP and his plan to keep receiver Robert Woods healthy this spring.

Later on, he also addresses USC's approaching pro day on Wednesday -- specifically, whether or not he feels parents should be allowed to watch the events, since UCLA prohibited that across town Tuesday. He concludes by talking about quarterback Matt Barkley and how the senior can continue to be challenged in his fourth spring with the Trojans.

Since last season ended, we've looked at the top 10 performers from last year, the top 10 moments and the top five questions for the new year.

And, lately, we've done previews for every position group at USC: quarterbacks, running backs, receivers, tight ends, offensive linemen, defensive linemen, linebackers, cornerbacks, safeties and special teams.

Now, with spring practice officially beginning for the Trojans on Tuesday at 4 p.m., let's take a look at five remaining questions for the month-long spring session.

1. Can Matt Barkley keep improving?

After his first two seasons at USC, there were clear areas where quarterback Matt Barkley could improve his game.

At the end of his freshman year, he had to cut down on his interceptions, among other things. At the end of his sophomore year, he had to develop a more consistent throw downfield -- again, among other things.

But this year? Barkley's stats were flat-out fantastic in 2011, easily reaching two of the three goals coach Lane Kiffin set for him and coming very close to the other.

The three: connect on 30 or more touchdowns, throw 10 or fewer interceptions and achieve a 70 percent completion percentage. He threw for 39 touchdowns and seven interceptions with a completion percentage of 69.1.

Sure, the one he didn't meet is a good carry-over goal for 2012. But what else can he even do?

We should find out this spring.

2. Will alternative ball-carrying sources emerge?

It's not as if this topic hasn't yet been broached -- on this blog and others. But it's still worthy of examination. Who is the Trojans' No. 3 ball carrier going to be behind Curtis McNeal and D.J. Morgan?

Amir Carlisle's transfer in January made this an issue. But fullback Soma Vainuku might be an option for a couple of carries a game, and so might Jahleel Pinner when he gets to USC in the summer.

One last possibility: A player from another position could always be moved -- temporarily or for good. The Trojans just fixed some depth issues at defensive tackle by moving Cody Temple there from the offensive line.

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We’re doing position previews leading up to spring practice, breaking down one group’s depth chart each day, paying special attention to things that can change in the spring.

We’ve looked at the quarterbacks, running backs, receivers, tight ends, offensive linemen, defensive linemen, linebackers, cornerbacks and safeties so far. Today, we finish things up with the special teams.

USC lost a four-year starter to graduation this winter in long snapper Chris Pousson, but the Trojans already had his replacement ready in Peter McBride, a 2011 signee who redshirted last season.

McBride was one of the top snappers available in that class. He's small -- at a listed 205 pounds, he's 45 less than Pousson -- but he's proven to be technically proficient. The transition shouldn't be terribly difficult.

And the Trojans also have returning starters at kicker and punter in Andre Heidari and Kyle Negrete. Heidari was downright awesome last season, one of the best kickers in the country; Negrete was efficient, downing roughly half his punts inside the 20-yard line and hitting zero touchbacks the entire year.

One interesting thing: Negrete, now a senior to-be, wasn't supposed to win the job last year. That was supposed to be freshman Kris Albarado, another scholarship player in the Class of 2011. But it made some sense for Negrete to punt last season, since Albarado had his redshirt year available.

But what about now? What about now that USC has one scholarship punter and one walk-on both using up years of eligibility? Will the walk-on -- Negrete -- continue to punt over the guy getting a free education?

For what the Trojans needed last season, Negrete was the perfect punter. The offense didn't fail a ton, but when it did, he could consistently pin the opponents back deep in their own territory.

It seems like they'll need the same sort of thing in 2012, which means Negrete is likely to keep the job for another year and Albarado is likely to take over the job as a third-year sophomore in 2013.

If anything's going to change on this front, we'll likely see the start of it this spring.

One other thing: The returner spots are also interesting openings this year, because it's likely USC won't want to use Curtis McNeal or Robert Woods there often to preserve the skill position players' health. So who could emerge there?

Freshman Nelson Agholor will be a prime candidate, but he won't arrive until the summer. We'll see who else shortly.

Check back later today for five final questions before spring practice begins Tuesday at 4 p.m. for USC.

USC cornerback Tony Burnett isn't happy with the way he played last year.

He isn't happy with how he got beat time and time again as the Trojans' No. 2 corner early in the season, and he isn't happy with his decision to play through an ankle injury that was hindering him physically even as he attempted to prevent it from hindering him mentally.

Now he's healthy, though. And now he knows what he wants to do in 2012, once he finishes his track career off this spring and the stakes get raised exponentially with the Trojans' national-championship chase.

"I want redemption," Burnett has said over and over this winter. "I had an OK season last year -- not what I wanted. But I'm just looking for redemption, ready to redeem myself."

Why so much talk about redemption? Because it's needed. Burnett was called out often by fans last season as the weak link on the USC defense, and he was aware of the criticism.

"I'm just trying to be a contributor, not that guy that everybody looks at and says, 'Oh, if only he had did better...'" he says now. "I don't want to be that guy this year."

Burnett, a Watts native, came into USC as a track-only athlete out of junior college and then walked on to the football team after a chance encounter on campus with recruiting coordinator Ed Orgeron a couple years back.

He burst onto the scene at the end of the 2010 season and earned himself a football scholarship last year, led the race for the No. 2 cornerback spot last spring and then started the 2011 season as the nickel corner.

That was all training for this year, he says. That was all training for a run that can mean something this time.

"This is that year," he said. "Last year and the year before, it was, 'Let's do it for each other, let's play for fun.' Now that we can actually go out and be a representative on a national stage."

On Saturday, Burnett competed in the Beach Classic at Cerritos College and won the triple jump for the second consecutive weekend. He also ran the anchor leg on the 4x100-meter relay with football teammates Marqise Lee, D.J. Morgan and Nickell Robey, but the foursome's run didn't qualify.

They finished third last weekend in the Rossi Relays at Claremont McKenna.

Cody Kessler remembers it well.

The week of the Notre Dame game last year, USC's No. 2 quarterback in 2011 was warming up on Howard Jones Field before an early-morning practice when Matt Barkley came up to him, unprompted, and asked him a question he never expected to hear.

"Hey, do you want me to stay or leave next year?" Barkley asked Kessler. "What's your take on it? I'm just trying to take everything in consideration, you know."

Kessler, then a redshirting freshman, was shocked and confused all at once. He knew Barkley had to be at least contemplating his impending decision to enter the NFL draft, but he didn't expect he'd be so outward about it.

"It caught me off guard," Kessler said this week. "I was like, 'What?' "

Before he could answer, Trojans coach Lane Kiffin ran up to them and announced practice was starting. Barkley never brought it up again and Kessler never said anything about it, even though the two were roommates that weekend in Michigan City and spent plenty of time together before the Notre Dame game.

Kessler said he didn't want to distract Barkley from preparation for the Fighting Irish.

Then, two months later, he listened intently as Barkley took the stage at Heritage Hall and announced he was staying for his senior season. Kessler swears he didn't know until the moment Barkley told everybody else that the quarterback was staying, saying he stayed neutral until the decision came.

"I prepared myself for both outcomes," he said. "I didn't want to commit to him leaving or staying and then be disappointed if he stayed. It was kind of a bittersweet situation. You want him to come back and learn from him and he's such a great guy to be around, but at the same time you want to have your chance.

Kessler's chance will probably come this season -- if he again wins the No. 2 quarterback spot. Whereas last year Kiffin did everything he could to save Kessler's redshirt season, this year the No. 2 quarterback should see quite a bit of time for the Trojans.

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We’re doing position previews in the weeks leading up to spring practice, breaking down one group’s depth chart each day, paying special attention to things that can change in the spring.

We’ve looked at the quarterbacks, running backs, receivers, tight ends, offensive linemen, defensive linemen, linebackers and cornerbacks so far. Today, we analyze the safeties.

T.J. McDonald will start at one safety spot for the USC Trojans in 2012. Will Jawanza Starling?

Most likely. The two players, seniors-to-be both, have essentially held down their respective starting positions for the last two years. Starling had a rough final stretch of the 2010 season but rebounded to be a steady presence throughout 2011.

But, based strictly on personnel, Starling is due to get some intense competition for his spot. Drew McAllister is going to be a senior; Demetrius Wright will be a junior.

Josh Shaw, a Florida transfer, is clearly starter-caliber as a defensive back. It's just a matter of (1) whether he'll be eligible in 2012 and (2) whether he'll play corner or safety. And Gerald Bowman was probably good enough to start in the Pac-12 last season while he was a ju-co player.

New defensive backs coach Marvin Sanders is going to have to give all these guys at least a shot at unseating Starling, but it's going to be interesting to see how it's approached.

The safety position is also a perfect example of a bigger question surrounding the Trojans. In general, what time of approach are they going to take to this year's spring practice? Is it going to be treated strictly as a venue for young players to get better, or is a big focus going to be placed on the position with new coaches getting acclimated to a new style?

Will players like McDonald and Starling get a lot of rest so that Sanders can see as much of Wright and Shaw as possible?

USC did do some of that last spring when linebacker Chris Galippo sat out the entire month to keep his back healthy, but that arguably ended up hurting him when he lost his starting spot in November. There's definitely a benefit to sitting out some of the spring as a returning starter (or at least taking it easy), but it's also a cost that has to be weighed in contrast.

McDonald's a perfect example of a rest candidate.

Check back Monday for the special-teamers and our final spring-practice preview before it officially starts Tuesday.

LOS ANGELES -- Almost everything about the USC basketball team's 2011-2012 season has been a full-fledged disappointment, from the Trojans' 6-24 record to the injuries that have ravaged the squad to downright embarrassing attendance numbers at the Galen Center.

Then there's freshman Byron Wesley, who continues to be the lone bright spot in a very dark canvas. The 6-5 guard set another career-high on Thursday in the Trojans' 80-58 loss to Washington, scoring a game-high 23 points on 10-of-18 shooting.

"If there's anything good about our season," USC coach Kevin O'Neill said after Thursday's game, "it's that this guy is really becoming a guy that's going to be hard to reckon with going forward in this league."

Wesley could now finish the season averaging double-digit points per game with strong performances in the regular-season finale against Washington State on Saturday and the Pac-12 tourney.

In his first five games, the Rancho Cucamonga native averaged 4.2 points per game. In his last five, he's putting up 18.4. He's also shooting 51 percent (37 of 72 attempts) in his last five compared to 27 percent (9 of 33) in his first five.

It's not hard to see the improvement.

Said O'Neill: "He is taking advantage of his opportunity, and good players do that."

Forward Garrett Jackson added 14 points for the Trojans. Washington's Terrence Ross led the Huskies with 18 points and forward Darnell Gant, an L.A. native, had 14 and a game-high nine rebounds.

Player of the game: Wesley was clearly USC's top performer; center James Blasczyk did have a career-high 10 points but only added three rebounds in his 33 minutes.

"This guy's becoming a premier player in this league," O'Neill said of Wesley.

Ross shot 8-of-13 from the field on his way to his 18 points. O'Neill said he looked at him as a prototypical NBA shooting guard, as long as he continued to improve his defense.

A sophomore, Ross is rated by most NBA draft prognosticators as a likely first-round selection in June's NBA draft if he chooses to declare.

Stat of the game: Washington (21-8, 14-3 in the Pac-12) out-rebounded the Trojans 49-23, the 16th-straight time USC has been out-rebounded this season.

"We miss so many shots that people get a lot of defensive rebounds," O'Neill said. "They're bigger and stronger than us. We don't have the capability to out-rebound people this year."

The last time the Trojans had more rebounds than an opponent was December 29 on the road against Cal, when they somehow produced 38 rebounds to the Bears' 25.

Quote of the game: "Kevin O'Neill is a testament to good coaching. They have one game left and have lost a lot of tough games and he is still fighting. He has been fighting all season." -- Washington coach Lorenzo Romar

His Huskies locked up a share of the Pac-12 regular-season title on Thursday, but it was interesting that Romar took time to praise O'Neill's coaching abilities in his postgame press conference. The two men have been complementary of each other in their three shared years in the conference.

Final notes: Attendance at the Galen Center was announced at 2,763, the lowest-ever number for a Pac-12 game in the history of the facility...With Senior Day on Saturday, O'Neill said he might start his lone senior -- walk-on guard Eric Strangis -- in the 3 p.m. contest against Washington State. For that game, the first 2,000 fans in attendance will receive a Maurice Jones bobblehead...With a 1-16 Pac-12 record, the Trojans are now locked into the No. 12 seed for the Pac-12 tourney, meaning they will play the No. 5-seeded team at 2:30 p.m. PT next Wednesday.

We’re doing position previews in the weeks leading up to spring practice, breaking down one group’s depth chart each day, paying special attention to things that can change in the spring.

We’ve looked at the quarterbacks, running backs, receivers, tight ends, offensive linemen, defensive linemen and linebackers so far. Today, we analyze the cornerbacks.

Here's an honest truth: USC didn't have a real cornerbacks coach last season.

Once secondary coach Willie Mack Garza resigned just before the start of the regular season last September, graduate assistant Sammy Knight took over for him and did a commendable job, according to Lane Kiffin and his players. But Knight was a college and NFL safety and a true safeties' specialist, and he had very little experience coaching corners, if any at all.

That ended up hurting the Trojans significantly. Torin Harris and Tony Burnett both struggled last season and showed little week-to-week improvement. Junior-college transfer Isiah Wiley took longer to develop than USC envisioned.

Both of those things can be directly traced to the absence of a true cornerbacks coach. That, however, will no longer be an issue in 2012, not with new defensive backs coach Marvin Sanders now in the fold.

Sanders has a reputation as an elite corners coach. He's had a number of his players at that position drafted high over the years, including Prince Amukamara last year and Alfonzo Dennard this year.

What kind of impact can he make on USC's cornerback group?

There's certainly a lot of talent. This spring alone, he'll be able to work with two-year starter Nickell Robey, Wiley, Burnett and senior Brian Baucham -- plus redshirt freshman Ryan Henderson, one of the most athletic prospects across the country in the Class of 2011.

Burnett will be splitting his time with track, but Sanders could also have Florida transfer Josh Shaw, who will play either safety or corner. And Harris and Anthony Brown are expected back from season-ending surgeries at some point soon.

It isn't as necessary to find the second starting corner over the next month and a half as much as it's necessary to find a top four of sorts. Wiley will be in that mix and Brown probably will be too when he's healthy, but who else can Sanders and the Trojans count on as a reliable nickel-corner type to defend the passing offenses of the Pac-12?

Check back Friday for the safeties and Monday as we conclude our series with the special-teamers.

New USC linebackers coach Scottie Hazelton made quite the jump this offseason.

After previous coaching stops at North Dakota State, Michigan Tech and Missouri Southern State, among others, the 38-year-old was hired by Lane Kiffin and the Trojans earlier this month to replace Joe Barry, who left school for the NFL's San Diego Chargers.

There was speculation Kiffin would go for a coach with NFL experience to attract high-school kids looking to get to the next level. Instead, he went with one of the freshest faces available.

Here's an ESPNLosAngeles.com interview with Hazelton following the Trojans' team conditioning session on Tuesday.

Question: You've been here now for a little longer than two weeks. How have those two weeks gone?

Answer: It's been great to meet the kids. They're good players who understand the game well and they're hardworking kids too. It's been a pleasure to work with those guys. The linebackers -- the three guys that are returning starters -- all know what they're doing. We're blessed to have them.

Q: How did the job-accepting process go for you? I know Tee Martin said no at first and Marvin Sanders' situation was complicated by his new job. What was it like for you? How quickly did you say yes?

A: I got a call on a Sunday from a buddy of mine who asked if I'd be interested -- he'd been talking to Coach Kiffin about me. I was like, "Yeah, of course I'm interested," but I didn't think anything of it. I said for sure, that'd be a great opportunity for me and my family. Coach Kiffin then called me on Tuesday and again on Wednesday, I flew out on Thursday and interviewed Friday, stayed over until Saturday, got offered the job, flew home and came back on Sunday. It was a little whirlwind.

Q: Have you had any feelings at all that this is too big of a jump for you to handle? There aren't too many coaches who move from the FCS to the top of the FBS in one swoop.

A: Right now, you just say that football is football. It's on a bigger stage, but coaching football players is coaching football players and coaching defense is coaching defense. Everyone has their challenges; everyone has their benefits.

Q: You mentioned the three returning starters earlier -- What do you think about the talent you're taking over?

A: When you have an opportunity to coach young guys that have played and have proven to be good athletes, it's always exciting, because you have a chance to develop them a little bit. They've been through it. And their sophomore seasons, I think, they tend to pick up a lot of things. Their freshman years they make a bunch of plays, but their learning curve is steeper and they're still learning what to do. Their second go-around, you can really teach them what to do and start to teach them things that the offense does instead of just what they're supposed to do.

Q: You won the national championship last year with North Dakota State at the FBS level. Do you think you can bring anything from that to this team's inevitable national-championship chase this fall?

A: I know that there's more than just me who have won national championships here. There are guys who have won national titles at this level. For me, I'm taking a step to learn from Monte Kiffin and Lane Kiffin and I'm just going to do my best to learn from them and make this place better. About winning those here, that's definitely Lane's vision, and we're going to follow it. That's what the team does.

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USC offensive tackle Matt Kalil stops by the Scott Van Pelt show to discuss the NFL Scouting Combine and April’s NFL Draft.

We’re doing position previews in the weeks leading up to spring practice, breaking down one group's depth chart each day, paying special attention to things that can change in the spring.

We’ve looked at the quarterbacks, running backs, receivers, tight ends, offensive linemen and defensive linemen so far. Today, we analyze the linebackers.

Three spots, three returning starting sophomores.

It doesn't get much more convenient than that for USC's new linebackers coach, Scottie Hazelton.

Dion Bailey, Lamar Dawson and Hayes Pullard will be his starters, from strong side to weak side. Very little time will be spent this spring trying to determine who's going to start.

That time will instead be spent transitioning to a new regime of sorts with the linebacking corps and helping develop the younger players at the position.

Thus, the two most intriguing players this spring are Scott Starr and Anthony Sarao, two talented guys who haven't logged any time on the field. This is Starr's first semester at USC after he enrolled early last month; Sarao redshirted last season as a Class of 2011 signee.

What makes them interesting prospects? Well, one of them has to be the backup to Dawson at middle linebacker this season, and there haven't been too many hints as to who it will be. We know Starr is going to start the spring at the Mike spot, but will Sarao, too?

Sarao played some of it last year on the scout team -- portraying Vontaze Burfict during ASU week -- and has received positive reviews from teammates and coaches about his on-field awareness. Starr is incredibly well developed for a kid who should be a high-school senior and has quickly caught on to the defensive schemes, judging from the winter workouts.

Dawson was bothered by injuries last season, so he could easily be the second-straight freshman to man the middle for a stint if he wins the No. 2 slot for this season.

On another note, will there be a way to get sophomore to-be Tre Madden on the field this year? He was a valuable special-teamer last season and can do the same in 2012, but he also proved capable of playing on defense in his one start at Colorado.

And what will happen to Marquis Simmons and Simione Vehikite, two players entering their fourth year in the program who have yet to contribute in big ways?

Those are questions the 15-session spring can help answer.

Check back Thursday for the cornerbacks.

USC had seven players participate in the NFL combine, which officially concluded Tuesday in Indianapolis. Some of those players helped their stock significantly and some hurt it sizably. In order of projected draft selection, let's break down the performances:

LT Matt Kalil

Kalil did absolutely nothing to hurt his status as arguably the top non-quarterback in the draft and did a good amount to help it. Scouts were impressed with the 306 pounds on his 6-foot-7 frame, and his official 4.99 40-yard dash time was among the best for offensive linemen.

Reports from Indianapolis had him as the top performer in position-specific drills, too.

DE Nick Perry

We wrote a month ago that Perry could stand to benefit more from the combine than any other player in the country. That turned out to not be too far-fetched.

The defensive end bulked up to 270 pounds on his 6-3 frame for the event and managed to keep his 40-yard dash time under 4.6 seconds, according to multiple reports. An official time of 4.64 is still darn fast, especially when considering his 38.5-inch vertical leap.

Compare those numbers to what DeMarcus Ware, a college defensive end who now plays 3-4 outside linebacker in the NFL, put up in the 2005 combine: He measured in at 6-4 and 256 pounds, ran a 4.56 40 and jumped 38.5 inches.

Those are very similar. Ware beat Perry in the 20-yard shuttle and three-cone drill, but Perry comfortably beat Ware in the bench press.

Ware went 11th overall to the Cowboys in 2005. Perry's going to go in the first round too.

DT DaJohn Harris

Harris didn't do the 40 or bench press or any of the other drills because of an unspecified injury, but he did measure in at 6-3 and 306 pounds, meaning he likely lost a good five or 10 pounds from his 2011 playing weight.

Still a potential third-rounder, USC's March 7 pro day is now an absolutely crucial event for Harris.

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