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. 9 Hamilcar Rashed
Bio
6-foot-4, 236 pounds
Outside Linebacker
Redshirt-Junior
Phoenix, Ariz.
Chandler HS
Career Quick Hits
- Enters 2019 having played in 24 games, with 10 starts, tallying 58 tackles, including 11.5 for losses.
- Has 2.5 sacks and three pass deflections
2018 stats
- Played in all 12 games, making 10 starts
- Tallied 58 tackles with 11.5 for loss. Added 2.5 sacks, three pass deflections and a forced fumble
- Finished with at least one TFL in nine of his 12 games. Had a season-high three in the overtime win at Colorado. Ended that game with seven overall tackles
- Logged a season-high nine tackles versus USC while also tallying two pass breakups
- Tallied 1.5 tackles for loss twice - versus Arizona and at Stanford. 1.5 TFLs versus the Wildcats were via sacks. Added another sack against California
- Also forced a fumble versus Arizona
2018 Recap
How wonderful a new coaching staff can be.
After redshirting in 2016, and only playing eight snaps in 2017 as a redshirt-freshman, there were a lot of question marks about how effective of player Rashed would be.
Insert Tim Tibesar.
After largely spending the 2017 season learning from the sidelines, Rashed was immediately seen as a coveted asset by Tibesar and Co. as he boasted all the potential of being a dominant outside-linebacker in the Pac-12.
Coming from Wisconsin, Tibesar had developed the likes of T.J. Watt, Joe Schobert, and Vince Biegel, and in doing so, earned a reputation for turning outside linebackers into players who opposing quarterbacks regularly have nightmares about.
While the sample size is still somewhat small, if 2018 was any indication, Rashed is going to be a force in 2019.
In addition to having a coaching staff that truly valued and believed in him, I credit Rashed's work ethic as one of the bigger reasons he made the type of impact as quickly as he did. A lot of players in his situation perhaps wouldn't have had the best outlook after spending two years largely on the sidelines, but Rashed stayed hungry and driven.
Once he was on the field regularly in 2018, he thrived at outside linebacker in Tibesar's linebacker friendly scheme and led the team (by far) in tackles for loss and was tied for first in sacks
Per Pro Football Focus, Rashed's best game of the season came against Cal. He logged 35 snaps, tallied four tackles and recorded three "defensive stops" which are tackles that constitute as a "loss" for the offense. While the Beavers had perhaps their worst defensive performance of the season against the Bears, Rashed was still on point.
2019 Outlook
Heading into 2019, Rashed is primed for a breakout season.
After showcasing all the ability to be a game-changing outside-linebacker in Tibesar's scheme in his first full year of being a starter, it's hard not to be excited when thinking about Rashed's potential this season.
Armed with more defensive talent around him, Rashed should have no problems finding opposing backfields all season long as the Beavers will likely continue to aggressively bring him off the edge.
Rashed was the definition of a run-stopper last season, and if he can up his pass rush numbers this season, we could see the emergence of the next great Tibesar coached outside 'backer.
With Rashed being the highest ranked defensive player on the BeaversEdge Top-25 for 2019, there's certainly a case to be made that he's Oregon State's best defensive player. When you combine his blend of athleticism, size, strength, tenacity, and passion for the game with a defensive coaching staff that emphasizes outside-linebackers, you've got a dream situation.
Look for Rashed to continue to reap the benefits of having a coaching staff that utilizes his full potential in 2019.