In the months of June and July, BeaversEdge.com will be counting down the top 25 Oregon State football players on the 2019 roster.
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No. 73 Blake Brandel
Bio
6-foot-7, 303 pounds
Left Tackle
Redshirt-Senior
Milwaukie, Ore.
Central Catholic HS
Career Quick Hits
- Has played in and started 36 games
- His 36 consecutive starts are the longest on the team heading into the 2019 season
- Named Pac-12 All-Academic Honorable Mention three times, in 2016, 2017 and 2018
2018 stats
- Played in and started all 12 games
- Started every game at left tackle
- Part of an offensive line that helped Jermar Jefferson become the first OSU running back to 1,000 yards in a decade. Jefferson had seven games of 100 or more yards, including two of 200 or more.
- Brandel and the offensive line paved the way for eight 100-yard games in 2018 as Artavis Pierce eclipsed that plateau in the season opener at Ohio State
- Pac-12 All-Academic Honorable Mention
2018 Recap
The 2018 season was another year of strong play from Brandel.
The Milwaukee, Ore. native has been as consistent as they come when it comes to staying healthy, productive, and on the field and last season was no different. Brandel started all 12 games at left-tackle and outside of a few subpar moments.
Brandel had a strong season as a junior, but it got off to a rocky start as he struggled to block Ohio State's Nick Bosa, but he had pass blocking grades of 70+ against Southern Utah, Nevada, Colorado, Stanford, and Washington.
Brandel's highest graded game of the season came against Nevada per Pro Football Focus as he logged a 84.3 grade. He had a pass block grade of 85.5 and a run block grade of 80.8. He did not allow any sacks on the day.
While the Oregon State line as a whole struggled to keep the quarterback upright, Brandel should thrive with the addition of Nathan Eldridge on the line. With the Beavers having a true-center for the first time since Isaac Seumalo, it should allow Brandel to help better protect Jake Luton/Tristan Gebbia's blindside in 2019.
2019 Outlook
From the moment that Brandel started his first game as a redshirt freshman, he's become an iron man and a mainstay up front. Per OSU Football Brandel will be looking next season to become the 20th player in school history to make 40 career starts.
Only five Beavers all-time have started 40 or more consecutively.
According to PFF, Brandel has played 2,484 snaps at OSU and 75% of those snaps have come at left tackle. The other 25% was time he spent at right tackle in 2016 as a redshirt freshman.
With Brandel needing just four starts to reach that 40 game mark, he's primed to have a lot of motivation to have one heck of a senior season. Brandel is one of the most fiery competitors that you'll meet and given that like many other seniors, has only experienced the height of four wins, he'll be plenty motivated to lead a re-tooled and vastly improved offensive line.
With the Beavers needing an uptick in pass protection while also maintaining its strong running game, look for Brandel to be the go-to leader in his senior season.
