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In the months leading up to the start of fall camp, BeaversEdge.com will be counting down the Top 25 Oregon State football players on the 2021 roster.
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MORE: Beavers Land DL Quincy Wright | Beavers Land OL Luka Vincic
Andrzej Hughes-Murray
No. 2
6-foot-2, 244-pounds
Outside Linebacker
Redshirt Senior
Federal Way, Wash.
Federal Way HS
2020 Stats: 23 tackles, including four tackles for loss and one sack. Added two pass breakups
2020 Recap
A multi-time team captain, and one of the best leaders in the locker room, Hughes-Murray had a nice bounce-back season in 2020 after missing all of the 2019 campaign.
Playing in all seven games (five starts), Hughes-Murray finished with 23 tackles, four tackles for loss, and one sack. He also two pass breakups.
Perhaps most importantly, Hughes-Murray's best performance of the season came in Oregon State's 41-38 upset win over Oregon. He set a career-best with 3.5 tackles for loss and recorded one sack and eight total tackles versus the Ducks.
After being on the shelf for over a calendar year due to injury, seeing Hughes-Murray bounce back and have a solid season is a good sign heading into 2021 as he'll be counted on as one of the consistent playmakers at OLB.
2021 Outlook
By playing in 37 games (24 starts) and having over 100 career tackles and 13.5 tackles for loss, Hughes-Murray is easily Oregon State's most experienced outside linebacker.
The 6-foot-2, 244-pounder elected to take advantage of the COVID-19 blanket waiver rule and will be a sixth-year senior for the Beavers this fall. That experience is invaluable as he can be an effective player on the field while also helping to mentor and grow some of the young bucks in the room.
If spring was any indication, Hughes-Murray is priming him up for a big last hurrah...
Unlike other upperclassmen who didn't necessarily cut loose for all of spring, Hughes-Murray left it all on the field as he had one of the more impressive sessions of anyone on the defense.
Compared to last season where at times it looked like he was still getting back into the flow of the defense, he looked equal parts confident and tenacious from one of the outside linebacker spots during spring. He was with the first team for nearly all of the spring session and I'd be quite surprised if he doesn't land one of the starting spots.
Having Hughes-Murray return for the 2021 season might very well end up being one of the more underrated wins of the offseason. He'll in all likelihood be in the mix to be a captain for the third time and his infectiously positive personality makes him one of those glue guys you just need in the locker room.
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