High-octane offenses are expected under USC coach Lincoln Riley, and the 2026 season figures to be no different. The Trojans return multiple starters from last season, including quarterback Jayden Maiava. With the players returning to campus for workouts, there are three key questions surrounding USC on offense heading into the summer.How Does Quarterback Jayden Maiava Gel With New Pass-Catchers?Oct 11, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; USC Trojans quarterback Jayden Maiava (14) warms up prior to the game against the Michigan Wolverines at United Airlines Field at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn ImagesMaiava is one of the most experienced quarterbacks in college football, having started 31 games in his career. Maiava elected to forgo the 2026 NFL Draft and return to school for his redshirt senior season. Gone are his four of five top targets from a year ago, which means he’s breaking in almost an entirely new set of young, but extremely talented set of pass-catchers. NC State transfer receiver Terrell Anderson was a big addition in the portal. His transition into the offense was seamless this spring, and he is expected to start opposite of sophomore Tanook Hines, who finished third on the team in receptions and receiving yards last season. Anderson will have plenty of competition from a pair of highly touted freshmen in Kayden Dixon-Wyatt and Boobie Feaster. Sophomore receiver Corey Simms returns after appearing in all 13 games, primarily as a special teams contributor last season. Freshman Tron Baker and Luc Weaver will also be in the mix. In the slot, redshirt sophomore Zacharyus Williams and redshirt freshman Romero Ison are two returning players. Williams was part of the rotation last season, but a significant upper-body injury kept him out for two months during the season. And then there’s freshman Trent Mosley, the MaxPreps California Player of the Year in 2025. The local star has emerged as a strong candidate to be a day one starter. Five-star freshman tight end Mark Bowman is also expected to be a day-one starter. The Trojans also added Josiah Jefferson, the No. 1 JUCO tight end, and Wisconsin transfer Tucker Ashcraft to revamp their room. Redshirt freshman Nela Tupou is the key returner. The Northern California native continued to move up the depth chart last season and was the tight end who played the most snaps in the bowl game. Players will be able to have meetings with the coaching staff in the summer, but the player-run practices will be vital to the offense building chemistry for the fall. What is the Health of Running Back Waymond Jordan? Sep 20, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Southern California Trojans running back Waymond Jordan (2) runs the ball against the Michigan State Spartans during the first half at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images | Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn ImagesUSC has been very cautious with running back Waymond Jordan’s ankle injury. Jordan suffered the injury last season on October 11 against Michigan and underwent surgery. He was given a four-to-six-week recovery timeline, but even after going through pregame warmups in the regular season finale against UCLA and the Alamo Bowl against TCU, Jordan never returned in 2025. Jordan was still limited this spring. He was running routes on air and catching passes with the rest of the team for a couple of practices during the second week of spring practice. However, he had a cleanup procedure on that ankle during spring break, which kept him out for the last two weeks. Riley said at the time Jordan is expected to be cleared for summer workouts. Running backs coach Anthony Jones also wasn’t concerned about the injury when he spoke last month. “This spring was more of a maintenance deal, just to clean some things up,” said Jones. “He's handled it well. He's a phenomenal spirit. He's done a great job of just preparing himself the best way. He's training hard, he's rehabbing hard. He's done a really good job of just taking what he's able to do, and doing it an extremely high level.”Jordan was the No. 1 JUCO running back in the 2025 class. The Florida native was an instant hit for the Trojans last season, rushing for 576 yards on 88 carries (6.5 yards per carry) and five touchdowns in five and a half games. In his absence, former walk-on King Miller had a breakout campaign season, rushing for 972 yards on 156 carries (6.2 yards per carry) and nine touchdowns. The Trojans two leading rushers from a year ago are expected to form one of the more dynamic one-two punches in college football. How Does USC’s Interior Offensive Line Shape Up? USC Trojans offensive lineman Tobias Raymond | USC Trojans on SIUSC returns all five starting offensive lineman from a year ago. However, that doesn’t mean the Trojans will have the same lineup in 2026. Redshirt junior Tobias Raymond has been a valuable part of the offensive line because of his versatility. Last season, Raymond played guard and both tackle spots as the Trojans dealt with multiple injuries up front. This spring, Raymond has primarily played center and the idea of him remaining there in the fall hasn’t been ruled out. “We'll see how it goes. He did a good job there, moving in, never really playing there," said offensive line coach Zach Hanson. "The plan, hopefully, is to be able to keep him inside this year. I think we have a lot of tackle depth that we feel really good about, which is a great thing to have. We all saw what he was able to do, kind of across the board, last year. He did some really good things. It's going to be a competitive five spots in the two deep here.”Redshirt senior Kilian O’Connor won the starting center job coming out of fall camp last season. The former walk-on suffered two separate lower-body injuries in 2025 that kept him out for an extended period of time, and he remained out this spring. Senior Alani Noa is expected to be locked into one of the guard spots after starting each of the last two seasons. If Raymond stays at center, the competition for the other guard position is between redshirt sophomore Hayden Treter and four-star freshman Breck Kolojay. Treter had primarily played tackle, but similar to Raymond, the Colorado native offers versatility and made his first career start at guard in the bowl game. Kolojay also comes from Colorado. The 6-7, 325-pound IMG Academy (Fla.) product arrived on campus this spring with a college-ready frame, physicality and mindset. Sign up to our free newsletter and follow us on Facebook, and X for the latest news. Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow