BeaversEdge Top 25 For 2024: No. 9 ILB Isaiah Chisom

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. 9 LB Isaiah Chisom

Bio

6-foot

223-pounds

Rs-Fr.

Santa Clarita, Calif.

Chaminade College Prep HS

- Rated three stars by Rivals

- All-Area Defensive selection & All-League first-team on defense

- Totaled 166 tackles as a senior, with 106 solo. Added nine tackles for loss with three sacks and one interception for a pick-six. Forced one fumble and recovered one fumble for a touchdown

- Finished with 111 tackles as a junior, including 69 solo. Picked up two sacks with one interception and three quarterback hurries

2023 Stats: 5 GP - Totaled 14 tackles, adding four tackles for loss, one sack and a pass breakup

2023 Recap

A three-star recruit in the 2023 recruiting class, West Hills (CA) inside linebacker Isaiah Chisom made his debut with the Beavers as a true freshman this past season, playing in five games and totaling 14 tackles, 4 TFLs, one sack, and a pass breakup.

He claimed a redshirt season, so he'll enter the '24 campaign as a redshirt sophomore...

With the Beavers having solid inside linebacker depth with Calvin Hart Jr., Easton Mascarenas, Makiya Tongue, John Miller, and Melvin Jordan, Chisom had to slowly but surely work his way into the rotation.

Interestingly enough, the Beavers didn't give Chisom a ton of special team work in his available games playing only 28 snaps, with 27 coming in the first three weeks of the season.

That tells me that the Beavers immediately saw how good of a player Chisom was and wanted to get him in the mix at ILB almost exclusively as games permitted.

Chisom's first big break came in the Beavers' blowout win over Stanford late in the year. Playing extended snaps due to the lopsided score, Chisom saw 24 snaps and tallied four tackles, one TFL, and one sack. He also added a pass breakup and and got one QB hurry.

Several weeks later he would make his first collegiate start in the Sun Bowl against Notre Dame with Mascarenas and Hart not playing. He took full advantage of the moment and had his most productive game against the Irish, recording 10 tackles with three TFLs.

While he only saw 77 total defensive snaps, and in-game action at ILB just twice on the season, Chisom showed enough to have him sitting in a great spot to earn a starting role in '24. He's a very smart and instinctual player and someone who can use his athleticism in a variety of ways to disrupt the backfield.

The small sample size from Chisom via PFF shows he's already adept at being a sure-tackler (87.1, best on the team) and at stopping the run (73.1, 5th-best on defense), but also that he needs to improve his pass coverage (51.1). But on the year, he finished with an overall defensive grade of 64.8, which was 12th-best on defense.

Overall, it was a solid freshman season for Chisom in the sense that he was able to get valuable experience while also being able to redshirt. There's a lot of confidence around OSU that he can step in and be a starter as a redshirt freshman this season and that's high praise for someone who played in just five games a year ago...

2024 Outlook

Entering the 2024 campaign, there are big expectations of Chisom who we feel will be one of the starters at inside linebacker. His sample size of extended playing time is small, but he performed very well against Stanford and Notre Dame to close out the year.

There will be some good competition at the position as the Beavers brought in a pair of JUCO ILBs in Gyriece Goodman and Aiden Sullivan, but we feel confident in projecting Chisom to win the job and hold off the pair.

While only a redshirt freshman, Chisom is a guy the Beavers have been excited about since the moment he signed. I recall talking with then-defensive coordinator Trent Bray about Chisom and he was giddy with what he'll bring to the middle of the defense.

Bray has often talked about what his defense wants from their inside linebackers, and most importantly above all, they want them to have "stopping power".

It essentially means being physical and strong enough to push a ball carrier backward even if he's got forward momentum and Chisom's blend of size and strength is what makes him a really intriguing player moving forward. He's a sure-handed tackler and that's something that will be invaluable this season as the Beaver defense looks to drastically improve from their tackling woes a year ago.

Oregon State's defensive scheme funnels ball-carriers to the middle, so we typically see the Beaver ILBs boasting big tackle numbers at the end of the season. So the pressure is on those ILBs to be able to lock down the ball carrier and not allow them to get to the next level of the defense.

Chisom's football IQ and maturity also stand out... He always makes smart plays around the ball and never seemed intimidated by the moments of being thrown into the fray.

There may still be a growing pain or two if he's a full-time starter, but I don't expect the Beavers to have much fall-off in production at the position. Chisom is primed and ready to take on a bigger role, and he's someone who looked good with the first unit during spring and should be there to open fall camp.

Look for Chisom to lock down one of the inside linebacker spots and show Beaver fans why the coaching staff and Bray were over the moon when they landed him out of high school.