Shotgun Spratling and Chris Trevino are back together for a special behind-the-scenes edition of the Helium Boys Podcast. The Helium Boys work through the process of compiling and debating spots No. 21 through 30 as well as the First Five Out for the initial summer ranking of USCFootball.com's Top 30 Most Important Trojans' list for the 2024 season.

For the fifth year in a row, the USCFootball.com staff is counting down the Top 30 Most Important Trojans in a series of offseason articles leading up to the kickoff of fall camp. The series is based off our staff's guesses on the development of returners as well as the value of newcomers as the Trojans' roster comes together after another offseason of turnover under head coach Lincoln Riley.

Each USCFootball.com staff member submits his own list of whom he believes will be the most important Trojans. Considerations for the rankings take in a wide range of factors including positional depth, 2023 stats, overall talent, departures from the previous season, projected development and expectations. The only guidance we try to follow is that the most important factor for placement is if this particular player was lost for the season, how detrimental would it be to the team and the overall success of the season. The individual lists are submitted and compiled before Shotgun and Chris come together to sift through the information, debate and assemble the official USCFootball.com rankings.

In this podcast, the Helium Boys give you a peek behind the curtain, allowing you to listen in on the first third of the rankings discussion as they debate and settle on the initial summer preseason rankings for No. 21 through No. 30 and the First Five Out (31-35).

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