Lincoln Riley says USC will be able to put Raleek Brown in some new roles all over the field this upcoming season.

With the talented running back getting a better feel for the offense now in his second year with the program, Riley told reporters this week during his availability that they’ve been lining Brown up in different spots during the spring to get a feel for how he handles things.

The Trojans, despite losing Travis Dye, have good depth in the running back room. Riley has been impressed with freshmen running backs Quinten Joyner and A’Marion Peterson, both of whom are on campus and going through spring ball.

Add in South Carolina transfer MarShawn Lloyd to a group that already returns Austin Jones and Darwin Barlow and you get more of an opportunity to put the 5-foot-8 Brown in the slot.

“We’ve definitely been able to do more. He has a much better base understanding of the entire offense and how that functions,” Riley said. “We’re using this spring to move him around some, to experiment some, and try to get a full idea of what he really can handle.

“And he’s done a nice job of that. … We’ve been pushing him mentally. He’s done a good job responding. We’re putting him in some different positions and he’s learning, but also he has a natural athleticism and explosion that makes him a fit in a lot of places.”

Overall, Riley has good things to say about the running backs at the midpoint of spring ball.

“That room’s been a real bright spot here in camp,” Riley said. “We’ve been impressed with the older guys in that room … and then been really impressed with the two young guys. Every day, those guys show up and make some big plays. So, yeah, with having five guys back there that we’re pretty excited about, it’s allowed us to move Raleek around.

“We’ll evaluate it. We’re just trying to put a lot on tape, expose these guys to a lot, and then we’ll start to narrow it down as we get closer to the fall.”