Behind Sam Darnold, USC faces a tricky question at quarterback

There was one question no one wanted to touch after USC’s practice on Tuesday. Tyson Helton laughed, shook his head and said he would elect to punt.

“That’s a head ball coach’s decision,” he said.

The head coach, his brother, Clay Helton, equivocated.

It was a question that has no direct impact on USC’s upcoming season. But the answer provides insight into how USC will approach a tricky decision it will soon have to make.

If Sam Darnold had gotten hurt in the Rose Bowl game, who would’ve come in at quarterback?

“I feel comfortable with anybody going in the game,” Tyson Helton said.

“At that point in time, you have to pick the best man in the moment,” Clay Helton said.

He did not say who exactly — between Matt Fink, burning a redshirt year, and Jalen Greene, a converted receiver — was the best man in that particular moment.

USC faces a similar dynamic at quarterback this season. Fink, now a redshirt freshman, has improved markedly but is still not near the level of last year’s No. 2, Max Browne. Fink has competed for the backup job with another freshman USC would like to redshirt, Jack Sears. And Greene, who has started training camp as a receiver, continues to tantalize as an emergency option.

No option is ideal.

Wide receiver Jalen Greene, left, makes a catch in front of cornerback Jack Jones on the first day of spring practice. Greene is still an option at his old position, quarterback.

(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

For now, USC has prepared Fink for the job. Over the past week, he has received a majority of the second-team repetitions and he said Tuesday he feels like he is Darnold’s primary backup. Clay Helton said the competition would go on for about one more week but said Fink “deserves those extra reps.”

USC’s handling of him before the Rose Bowl did not reflect extreme confidence. But the perception of many members of the offense is that Fink has transformed himself into a more assured passer in his second season. Fink laughed when recalling the difference.

“If you were here last year, you would totally know it’s pretty obvious, isn’t it?” he said. “I’ve had a couple people tell me that my confidence looks a little bit better in the pocket.”

Tight end Tyler Petite said Fink’s development has been “night and day.”

Fink possesses speed — he is likely a faster straight-ahead runner than either Sears or Darnold. Last season, though, “everything was just really fast,” he said. “It was hard for me to pick up things in a quick pace.

Now, he added, “Everything’s starting to slow down.”

In USC’s scrimmage on Saturday, as the first-team offense’s drives fizzled out repeatedly, Fink led the second team effectively. He threw one long touchdown to receiver Tyler Vaughns, then two more to Vaughns during the red-zone period.

“You could see the guy maturing out on the field as he played,” Tyson Helton said. “I thought he took on a leadership role. I thought he was vocal. I thought he made plays. I thought plays were made when there wasn’t a lot there, and that’s how you evaluate a quarterback. So that’s good to see.”

During Tuesday’s full-contact period, USC’s second-team defense nearly intercepted two Fink passes in a row. He recovered with a long completion to Josh Imatorbhebhe down the sideline.

Sears stuck with the third-team offense, a signal that the Trojans will give Sears the same treatment as it did Darnold: A redshirt season, with a legitimate chance to start in Year 2.

Ideally, USC won’t have to rely on its backups at all. But Darnold is a former receiver and outside linebacker, and he occasionally plays like one. At San Clemente High, he broke his foot as a junior and his hand later that year, in basketball. As a senior, he was knocked out of the Southwest Division championship game with a concussion. (His backup was Sears.)

How USC would handle an injury could depend on the severity of the injury and when in the season it falls. For a short-term injury, USC may choose to preserve Sears’ redshirt. An injury early may find Sears not yet ready. Last week, Tyson Helton spoke of Sears as a film junkie who “doesn’t know anything, and he knows he doesn’t know anything. So he’s trying like hell to get caught up.”

If USC doesn’t like either option, it can turn to Greene. In the past, Greene has sat in on quarterback meetings even when practicing with the receivers. Now, he is a favorite to start at receiver, and he has increased his workload on special teams, so the quarterback meetings have stopped.

Still, Tyson Helton said Greene would be ready if called upon.

“I don’t think he has to get reps,” he said. “He knows what’s going on. So if it came to that, he would be a guy that could go in and would just know what we’re doing right away.”

Greene said he would be prepared to play quarterback “the next day.”

“During the game? No sweat,” he said. “I’ll just take the gloves off and get behind the center. Just like riding a bike.”

Clay Helton called Greene the fourth quarterback, “just like we had in the bowl game.”

Helton added that Fink has shown experience and assertiveness. Fink would be ready, Helton said — if he was called upon.

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Follow Zach Helfand on Twitter @zhelfand