USC = Duke?

Well, on its face, the comparison seems quite obvious. Both are powerhouses in college sports, the former more so in college football, the latter decidedly in college basketball.

So yeah, on that level, sure. But, after Mark Sanchez decided to go pro last week, I got to thinking: is this perennial Pac-10 powerhouse putting out a comparable amount of great pro players? (Enough p-words?)

For a school nicknamed "Tailback U", for a school that has a reputation, at least in recent history, for being know for its great offense, the answer isn't as favorable as you might think.

Let's take a quick look at some of the offensive skill players drafted in recent years.

2007

2nd Round - Dwayne Jarrett, Steve Smith

2006

1st Round - Reggie Bush, Matt Leinart

2nd Round - LenDale White

2005

1st Round - Mike Williams

2004

2nd Round - Keary Colbert

2003

1st Round - Carson Palmer

2000

1st Round - R. Jay Soward

1996

1st Round - Keyshawn Johnson

Out of that list, there's only two that I could say have been or were good pro's: Keyshawn Johnson and Carson Palmer. But, both come with asterisks. Johnson's being that he truly was a disappointment, having been a Heisman Trophy winner, and (more importantly) a number one overall pick (only four thousand yard seasons and one 10 TD year in 11?). Then again, if he was a disappointment, then fellow number one pick Palmer would have to be as well. Thus far in his young career, he has been with only having had two really good seasons, the rest either average-poor or injured.

Of the rest, how many do you remember being very good at USC? Having a ton of potential, being highly rated, having bigtime college careers? Most, if not all of them (and that's not even including the John David Booty's and Chauncey Washington's)

Most of those guys haven't been nearly as good (nor project to be) in the pro's. Jarret and Smith have been average receivers early on. Bush has developed a rep as being a soft player, in addition to being a largely useless player. As far as Leinart's concerned, two words sum up his value: Kurt Warner. LenDale White seemed more likely to eat his way out the league before gobbling up all of Chris Johnson's TD's this year. Mike Williams' is obviously the biggest bust as he barely has even played, and Keary Colbert, unfortunately continues to play, just at a very poor level. Finally, Soward never did much in the NFL because of a little thing called reefer.

So, back to the title, USC = Duke? Well, yes. Because, as I've just shown you, USC seems to have developed a reputation for putting formerly great college players into the professional ranks and watch them disappointment.

Duke? Well, we all know their history...William Avery, Jason Williams, Trajan Langdon, Bobby Hurley, J.J. Reddick, Christian Laettner, Shelden Williams...I think I've made my point there.

And thus, my overarching theme here is, don't get crazy over Mark Sanchez because he's leaving early and bucking trends and any of that nonsense. Get crazy because, frankly, USC hasn't produced a ton of great offensive pro's in recent memory. Kind of like Duke.

It's Easy To Be Valuable

Just as it's difficult to be a valuable member of your team, it's equally difficult to be incredibly useless.

By useless, of course, I'm not referring to that long snapper on your team, or some 8th string kicker. No, I'm talking about a player that is either supposed to be good, was good, or the team was counting on to be good, but, for whatever reason other than horrific injury, simply didn't not perform. At all.

Peyton Manning won the league's MVP on Friday, an award most fans are well aware of.

However, there's another award that comes out around this time, an award few know about. It's the league's LVP, or Least Valuable Player. Who it is that votes on this award isn't known (though it's suspected disgruntled fantasy football players have some pull), but, for the first time ever, I'm going to release not only the winner (or, loser) of the award, but the rest of the players that got serious consideration as well.

6. LaDainain Tomlinson
Almost despite LT, the Chargers made the playoffs, which makes his useless-ness all the more upsetting. If LaDainian Tomlinson, once the league's premier back, was awful and the Chargers were 3-13, it would make those old-school fans of Tomlinson feel as if he still had "it". Sure, he's had his injuries to deal with, namely a nagging turf toe, and now a groin injury. 2008 was, without doubt, the worst season of his eight year career: career lows in yards and ypg, and the lowest TD total since his rookie year.

5. Larry Johnson
If various public complaints about a lack of carries wasn't enough, Larry Johnson gets on this list only because he acted like a felon. Not sure where LJ was raised, but I'd imagine he wasn't taught to throw drinks in women's faces in clubs when they bother you. Just a shot in the dark. Then, when he actually did play, he wasn't even close to good. At first glance, a 4.5 ypc isn't bad at all, right? Wrong. If you take out the two 60+ yard runs he had, that lofty average comes down to a more representative 3.9. That's not to mention, he had four games where he had under 40 yards.

4. Chad Johnson
Now, in fairness, Chad Javon Ocho Cinco's season is partly to blame on not having any semblance of a running game or quarterback all season. Injuries don't help either, but, it's just too hard not to want to put Ochenta y Cinco on a list like this. By far, his worst season since his rookie year. Johnson, miraculously, managed to go the entire season without a single game with even 90 yards receiving.

3. Jason Campbell
The former Auburn QB started the season like a Meatloafed bat-out-of-hell, avoiding throwing a pick in the first half of the season. Second half? Not so strong, for young Mr. Campbell. And, his team, unfortunately, felt it, big time. After leading his team to a 6-2 record without a single INT, his second half featured 6 picks, and his team fell to an eventual even 8-8.

2. David Garrard/Derek Anderson
I've never understood what people liked about the Jaguars or David Garrard, so his place on this list doesn't shock me one bit. Outside of a typically dynamic RB duo in MJD and the ancient one Freddie Taylor, this team doesn't have much in the way of skill players on the offensive side of the ball. Of course, there is Matt Jones, who is incredibly skilled, if you include amongst his skills breaking the law and not having a position. Garrard can run, but not incredibly well. His arm is pretty good, but not great, nor horribly accurate. Six of his career high 13 picks came in the fourth quarter of games this year.

In a tie for second was another QB, a really big one, almost as big as the amount of disappointment he left the city of Cleveland with. All six foot six inches of Derek Anderson was just awful this year. After breaking out last season, Anderson completely stunk the joint up. Sure, Braylon Edwards dropping nearly everything thrown his way didn't help much. But, it was summed up nicely when he was benched after a Week 8 loss to Baltimore. Final numbers of 9 TDs to 8 INts really have people rethinking who exactly is their franchise QB in Cleveland.

1. Reggie Bush
The player once decried as the future superstar running back of the NFL, just three short years ago, is now likely best known for dating a girl that made a sex tape than his on-field accomplishments. Reggie Bush wasn't expected to be a feature back for the Saints this year, but he was expected to play, and be effective in the role Sean Payton had carved out for him as a scat/receiving back. Instead, he showcased how incredibly soft he plays (often ducking out of the field of play to avoid contact), and how he'll likely do very little in the NFL. No one doubts his speed and agility and acceleration. Dude's off the hook in Madden. In real life though, he's been nothing but useless and a disappointment, especially when the number one pick that year, Super Mario Williams, is ripping apart offensive lines across the league. This year, three running backs (Adrian Peterson, Michael Turner, and DeAngelo Williams) each had better seasons (this year!) than Reggie Bush has had a career. Tough break, Saints.