LOS ANGELES -- In a scrimmage portion of a USC practice earlier this week, the Trojans offense was backed up against its goal line, facing third-and-7. Quarterback Sam Darnold dropped back into the end zone and lofted a pass down the left sideline that had incompletion written all over it.

That’s when receiver Michael Pittman leaped up, snatched it out of the air with two hands and came down with what represented a key first down in the mock situation. Coach Clay Helton went up to him afterward and told Pittman it was plays like that the Trojans will rely on him to make as he helps fill the void left by receivers JuJu Smith-Schuster and Darreus Rogers.

“I was really proud,” Helton said. “One of the things I said, 'When you get in that backed up area, that’s where you have to be a grown man.'”

Though he is still technically still a true freshman, Pittman looked the part. He played this past year, his first on campus, but was mainly used on special teams as he sat directly behind Smith-Schuster on the depth chart. Next year, though, he figures to be an important part of a receiving corps that will feature several new faces.

In addition to Smith-Schuster and Rogers, the team’s two leading receivers last year, USC loses De’Quan Hampton, Isaac Whitney and Adoree’ Jackson. The latter three combined for only 12 catches in 2016, but their departures have freed up opportunities this spring for younger players to get consistent reps with the starting unit for the first time. The mass exodus of receivers is something USC understood was coming years back and why the Trojans brought in five receivers in the Class of 2016.

“Going back to recruiting, I told all of them we were going to sign five,” offensive coordinator and receivers coach Tee Martin said. “There was going to come a time when four or five guys were going to leave. I was anticipating JuJu leaving and Adoree’ with his reps on offense.

“I told them I didn’t know who was going to redshirt or who was going to play, but I told them after one year we were going to lose four or five guys.”

The departures hurt, but through a few weeks of spring ball it’s worth allowing for the possibility that next year’s group, from top to bottom, will be better. Part of that is because Deontay Burnett looks ready to build off his breakout performance in the Rose Bowl, Jalen Greene is finally settled in at receiver after flirting with quarterback earlier in his career and Steven Mitchell is expected to return. But it has just as much to do with how impressive the young players have looked.

There was a bit of a slow start as many of the freshmen adjusted to their new roles, but they've made significant strides over the past couple weeks with installations nearly complete.

As he showed Tuesday, Pittman’s 6-foot-4 frame gives Darnold a bigger target than he’s had in the past, and Tyler Vaughns, at 6-foot-2, plays even bigger. Both players are in the mix for starting roles, while classmate Velus Jones looks destined to serve as Burnett’s primary backup.

What makes this group unique, though, is how positionally flexible these receivers area. Whereas in the recent past, USC used its receivers primarily on the outside or the inside, now Martin feels comfortable letting guys do both. And that, he says, is a play-caller’s dream because it lets them really take advantage of mismatches.

“The game is all about matchups and winning one-on-one matchups,” Martin said. “If they can’t predict where we're going to put guys, it gives us the element of surprise.”

To simplify it further, opposing defenses won’t be able to, at least in theory, key in on specific players and know what kind of routes to expect. Additionally, Martin has come away impressed with the collection of raw ability.

“Just the size-speed combination,” he said. “We’ve had big guys with decent speed, but now we have big guys who can really run.”

The Trojans will add another intriguing player to the mix soon when Joseph Lewis, ESPN.com's No. 1-ranked receiver in the Class of 2017, enrolls this summer.