6/22/2023 football Edit

BeaversEdge Top 25 for 2023: Honorable Mentions + Just Missed

Brenden Slaughter • BeaversEdge

Publisher

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In the weeks leading up to the start of fall camp, BeaversEdge.com will be counting down the Top 25 Oregon State football players on the 2023 roster.

The rankings will be controversial, and no two people will agree on every single ranking, but that will be the fun of the rankings!

Want to give your two cents on the rankings? Make sure you subscribe to BeaversEdge.com to join The Dam Board and weigh in on the conversation.

Ranking Criteria

This is obviously an inexact science as you're comparing quarterbacks to defensive linemen and linebackers to offensive linemen. But our team, which consisted of Publisher Brenden Slaughter, and writer T.J. Mathewson gave it a shot.

The main criteria were assessing our expectations for the player's performance in 2023, and to evaluate that, you have to look at what the player did in 2022. Stats were considered, but it was more of an overall impact on the team from an analysis perspective.

Again, we want to reiterate how difficult it was to create this top 25. Keeping some of the guys below out of the top 25 was tough...

Honorable Mentions (in no particular order)

Kicker Everett Hayes

-> After splitting time with Atticus Sappington last season due to an injury and inconsistency, Hayes finds himself just outside the top-25 entering 2023. Hayes still has the inside track to being the starting kicker this season as his upside is the highest in addition to his experience, but he'll need to be more efficient than his 46% kick success rate last season as he went 6-for-13... If he can rebound and be more like he was in 2020 and 2021, the kicking game will be a lot less of a liability...

Punter Josh Green

-> With one of the better punters in school history Luke Loecher graduating this past season, the reins of the punting duties will now fall to Josh Green. Green has been battling with Loecher each of the last two seasons, with Loecher winning the competitions, but Green hasn't been far behind with similar effectiveness. We see the most of punters during practices and Green's punts in practices these past few years haven't been all that much different than Loecher's... Green punted once this past season for 45 yards against Colorado... He'll be asked to fill Loecher's shoes as a weapon in the special teams game and should be more than capable...

Offensive Lineman Grant Starck

-> Potentially the de-facto "sixth man" of the offensive line, Nevada transfer Grant Starck could play a sizable role this season depending on how the offensive line shakes out. Essentially, the final spot on the line comes down to Starck and Marco Brewer, and Brewer earns the preseason nod based on his experience as a starter for the Beavers last season. However, Starck came from Nevada and has a good experience, so I expect him to push Brewer for that final spot. He'll be a key reserve if Brewer wins the battle...

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Quarterback Aidan Chiles

-> Entering Corvallis as one of the most hyped quarterback prospects in recent memory, without even having played a down of football for the Beavers, Chiles finds himself just outside the top-25... While we may have to wait for the Chiles era to officially begin in Corvallis with DJ Uiagalelei and Ben Gulbranson in tow, there's no question Chiles is coming on strong... It's hard to pinpoint what his exact role would be if he doesn't pull a rabbit out of his hat and win the job as a true freshman, but his ceiling and potential are off the charts and he's a player Oregon State fans should be very excited about moving forward...

Wide Receiver Jesiah Irish

-> Irish finds himself just outside the top-25 entering the 2023 campaign, but with the loss of John Dunmore in the receiving corps, there's an opportunity for him to seize the third receiver spot alongside Anthony Gould and Silas Bolden. Irish is very quick with the ball in his hands and can make plays in space extremely well... He's coming off a season in 2022 that saw him catch three passes for 46 yards while also adding 44 rush yards on eight carries. The Beavers have utilized him well in the fly-sweep game, plus he offers nice upside as a kick returner or secondary punt returner behind Gould... It's Irish's final go-around, and with a starting spot up for grabs, we could see his best this season...

Just Missed

TE - Riley Sharp

DL/OLB - Oluwaseyi Omotosho

OLB - Cory Stover

ILB - John Miller

RB - Isaiah Newell

TE - Jermaine Terry

DB - Akili Arnold

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