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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 2024 roster.
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No. 1 OL Joshua Gray
Bio
6-foot-4
307-pounds
Rs-Sr.
Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.
Rancho Cucamonga HS
- First-Team All-League and First-Team All-CIF selection at Rancho Cucamonga High School
- Helped Rancho Cucamonga to a 10-2 record his senior season, including a No. 16 state of California ranking
- Led the team to a 12-1 record as a junior and the No. 7 mark in California
2023 Recap
Entering the 2023 campaign as one of Oregon State's most seasoned and experienced offensive linemen, Gray settled in at left tackle as the full-time starter for his third straight season.
He became a full-time starter in 2020 (seven starts) after redshirting in 2019 and went on to start all 13 games in 2021 and 2022.
His streak of 44 straight starts was broken this past season by missing the matchup against Oregon due to injury, but before that, started 11 games in 2023 at left tackle.
Gray's strong performances were met with recognition as he was named All-Pac-12 Second Team and Phil Steele All-Pac-12 Second Team in addition to winning Pac-12 offensive lineman of the week honors in the Beavers' wins over San Diego State and California.
He also tallied his first touchdown in his career via a backward pass that went for a 3-yard rushing touchdown in the win over San Diego State.
Seeing the fourth-most total snaps on offense (682) and the third-most on the O-line behind Tanner Miller and Taliese Fuaga, Gray helped lead a Beaver OL that saw RBs rush for an average of 167.1 yards per game and 4.9 yards per carry.
2024 Outlook
Back in the saddle for his sixth and final season of eligibility, Gray doesn't quite earn the nod of longest-tenured Beaver (Jaden Robinson), but he's at the top of our BeaversEdge Top 25 for how talented he is and how important his leadership is to the team.
Simply put, with the offensive line departures in the offseason (Heneli Bloomfield and Jake Levengood to graduation, Fuaga to the NFL Draft, and Miller to the transfer portal, having a guy like Gray who can anchor a new-look unit next season was big-time.
Head coach Trent Bray summed it up perfectly when speaking about Gray's return ahead of spring practices.
"That was huge," Bray said of Gray's return post-signing day. "Because that's better than anyone we could have picked up in the portal or anything."
Gray is the Beavers' most experienced OL entering this next season as he has started 44 games during his collegiate career, all of which came at left tackle.
However, he will be changing positions for the upcoming season and moving to left guard or right guard as a big part of his decision to return for his final year was based on the NFL draft feedback he received in the offseason.
He figures to project as a guard at the next level, rather than tackle, and teams would like to see some film on him playing the new position this season.
That combined with the injury before the Oregon game that also knocked him out of the bowl game limited his opportunities to showcase himself ahead of the draft.
"Mainly because of my foot," Gray said about returning for 2024. "They want me to play interior O-line at the next level so it was going to be tough to switch a position and get surgery and I didn't want my first reps at guard to be at a rookie mini-camp or something."
Gray didn't see action in spring practices (injury rehab), but he'll be ready to go when fall camp is underway, settling into his new spot in the trenches. He's going to be a huge piece of the Beavers' O-line success this season and his return was one of the biggest gets for Bray and his staff this offseason...
Previously
No. 10 Gerad Christian-Lichtenhan
Honorable Mentions + Just Missed
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