What NFL thinks matters

The siren song of the NFL might not lure any of USC’s draft-eligible juniors into declaring for the 2008 draft after the Rose Bowl, but most are expected to ask the league for evaluations that project the round in which they might be chosen.

“I’m in favor of those guys doing it if they have to clear their mind of it and find out where they stand,” Coach Pete Carroll said Saturday after the Trojans completed the last of three workouts at the Home Depot Center. “I’m for full disclosure of all the information. The truth is so compelling that I’d rather have them know than not know.”

In the last few seasons, players such as receiver Steve Smith and linebacker Keith Rivers requested and received projections that caused them to return for their final seasons of eligibility.

Linebackers Rey Maualuga and Brian Cushing, offensive lineman Chilo Rachal, defensive lineman Fili Moala, receiver Patrick Turner, cornerback Cary Harris and safety Kevin Ellison are among the players eligible for the 2008 draft.

Ellison has said that he would return for his senior year but acknowledged that he completed paperwork for an NFL evaluation.

“Why not gauge where you are?” he said. “For me, first, it’s more what your coaches think that you need to work on. But where the NFL thinks you are you need to know as well.”

Cushing said in November that he would return in 2008. On Saturday, he said he would speak with Carroll before deciding whether to seek an evaluation.

“I’ll sit down with him, and whatever he thinks is best for me I’ll do,” Cushing said. “He’s the most experienced with it. He knows what I should and shouldn’t do, so I just listen to him 100% with everything.”

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After a two-night hotel stay in Santa Monica and three workouts at the Home Depot Center, most of the players were bused back to campus, where they were scheduled to receive their bowl gifts.

Bowls are allowed to distribute gifts totaling $500 and schools are allowed to give items worth up to $350, said Dennis Slutak, USC’s director of football operations.

Among the Rose Bowl gifts are a home theater system, headphones, a backpack and a wristwatch. USC gave each player a Best Buy gift card.

No Trojans player has collected more bowl gifts than tailback Hershel Dennis, a sixth-year senior.

“We got lots of good stuff over the years,” Dennis said. “Xboxes, iPods. They’re going to load us up right before Christmas. That helps you out with some Christmas shopping.”

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Several players from outside Southern California rushed from practice to make airline flights, but many are staying in town for the holidays.

Senior linebacker Rivers, a Florida native, said he would remain in Los Angeles to rehabilitate his injured left ankle.

“Instead of sitting in a metal seat with 10,000 layovers, I’m going to get some R & R and try to heal up so I can play in this game,” he said.

Carroll said Rivers might play against Illinois but he was “not going to be 100%.”

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Senior quarterback John David Booty said the workouts at the Home Depot Center gave younger players a sense of what it was like to practice in Miami before the 2005 Orange Bowl.

“When you’re in a different facility that you’re not quite used to, it kind of makes you feel you’ve gone somewhere besides Los Angeles, where you spend all your time,” Booty said.

Carroll also was happy with the change.

“I think it helped us,” he said. “There’s no question we’d do something of this format again.”

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Cushing, who suffered a knee bruise Friday, practiced and said he felt fine. . . . Rachal (knee) said he would practice when the Trojans resume workouts Wednesday. Turner (quadriceps) and running back Chauncey Washington (hip) also are expected to return.

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gary.klein@latimes.com