Final Analysis of the 2013 Recruiting Class
After the ink has dried and the fax machines have cooled down, BeaverBlitz.com gives its final impressions of Oregon State's 2013 recruiting class. Take a look at some of our opinions and overall breakdown of the class in general.
BREAKING DOWN THE 2013 OREGON STATE RECRUITING CLASS
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GEMS OF THE CLASS
BRANDON ARNOLD: Safety
While some of his Crespi teammates were more highly ranked and sought after, Arnold is a perfect fit for Coach Banker's defense. He's a student of the game and he likes to hit. His athleticism will serve him well on both defense and special teams. Many schools tried to make a last minute push for Arnold, including Cal, but he stayed true to his Oregon State commitment.
VICTOR BOLDEN: Wide Receiver
If you haven't seen Bolden's senior highlights, watch them, now. Really. He isn't big, but he is fast...really fast. He will be the perfect fly sweep guy in Coach Riley's offense. Like many others in this class several other PAC 12 programs tried to make a run at Bolden late including UCLA, but the speedster kept his word to Coach Brennan and will become a fan favorite in Corvallis.
EDWIN DELVA: Defensive Tackle
A Christmas Day surprise for Beaver Nation, Delva is an integral part of replacing the senior DT duo of Castro Masaniai and Andrew Seumalo. Delva wracked up 37 tackles including 12 for loss last year at Antelope Valley. He was highly sought after by programs across the country and chose Oregon State over his other finalist Kansas State.
SEAN HARLOW: Offensive Line
After last years haul of offensive linemen, the position wasn't a huge priority which allowed Coach Cavanaugh to be picky. Harlow was his number one offer and after a fight with Washington, Cav was victorious. Harlow had offers from every PAC 12 program except USC and Stanford. That says a lot. He trains hard and his father was a Trojan and NFL player so he knows what it takes to be successful already.
DASHON HUNT: Cornerback
Originally committed to UCLA, Hunt opened things back up once Jim Mora was hired. Not only is he a true cornerback who has a shot to come in and compete for playing time early, he is a great addition because he'll be a great recruiter while on campus. He was sold on Corvallis and felt at home at Oregon State and being coached by Rod Perry.
HUNTER JARMON: Wide Receiver
Jarmon had 93 receptions for 1470 yards and eight touchdowns this past year for Waco-Midland. He's a great athlete who will excell under Coach Brennan. He also comes from a Midland program which is run like a college program so he comes in prepared from the start as far as weight training and conditioning are concerned.
COREY LAWRENCE: Athlete
Lawrence may be the most underated athlete of the signing class. Both Ryan Gunderson and the Del City head coach Nick Warehime said he was the top athlete in Oklahoma this year. That is a strong statement as the Sooner State produces lots of top talent each year. I may agree that it was an exaggeration if I hadn't seen his film. He's fast and a playmaker.
STEVEN NELSON: Cornerback
With the graduation of Jordan Poyer, the Beavers were looking for someone who could step right in and play and they hit a home run with Nelson. He did a lot of investigating before deciding that Oregon State would give him the best shot at making the jump to the NFL.
KYLE PEKO: Defensive Tackle
A great addition to the Beavers defensive front, has great footwork and athleticism. While he is slated to play tackle for the Beavers, he has the athleticism to play defensive end as well according to Coach Banker.
DIAMONDS IN THE ROUGH
TITUS FAILAUGA: Defensive Line
Titus is a smart young man who has a frame to add bulk and keep his athleticism. He may need a year or two, but he could be a major factor for the Beavers defensive line in a few seasons.
MICHAEL GREER: Linebacker
Teams were jumping in on Greer late in the game as UCLA and Cal both started putting the pressure on him. He is the perfect mold for Coach Bray's linebackers as he is fast and rangy and likes to hit hard. I've heard more than a few comparisons to Beaver great Nick Barnett. Big shoes to fill, but Greer definitely has a chance.
DAMIEN HASKINS: Running Back
I love the film of both Haskins and Mattison. Running back wasn't a huge priority in the 2013 class but both were too good to pass up. Haskins is big and strong and is a hard nosed runner. He may play for a small Texas program, but it has some of the best competition in all of 2A. Getting a look at him in the International Bowl just sealed my opinion of him.
WALTER JONES: Wide Receiver
Jones is a very versatile player who could play defensive back, running back and wide receiver for the Beavers, although it looks like he'll get his first look at receiver with Coach Brennan. He can fly and is a champion track athlete as well.
CHARLES OKONKWO: Cornerback
May very well be the best steal of the class. We are used to the Beavers making last ditch efforts to B-list guys who aren't even in the Rivals database and seem to come out of nowhere. Okonkwo has been on the radar and he's a talented pure cornerback. He's a great fit for the Beavers and while he replaced the 4-star LJ Moore who chose Oklahoma, he may turn out to be a better fit for the program than Moore.
TERIN SOLOMON: Linebacker
The very first commitment of the 2013 class, Solomon is a linebacker/safety hybrid, which is what the Beavers have targeted in recent years. Like Greer, Solomon is a hitter and he has the speed to play sideline to sideline.
JORDAN VILLAMIN: Wide Receiver
Villamin will give the Beavers a lot of versatility down the road. He runs very clean routes and has good hands. He's also big enough and strong enough to make the tough catches in traffic and can release himself from potential tacklers.
BEST VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS
BEST CHANCE TO PLAY RIGHT AWAY
SEAN HARLOW: Harlow has just graduated from high school and will spend the next two months training so that he is ready to go when he enrolls early in January. There is a lot of young talent on the offensive line, but Harlow has a chance to break the two-deep as a true freshman, something that is difficult to do.
STEVEN NELSON: Nelson is expected to play immediately and has already immersed himself into the program where he is working out with the team and learning Coach Perry's system.
JUCO DEFENSIVE TACKLES: Edwin Delva, Siale Hautau and Kyle Peko are all expected to come in and compete right off the bat in the defensive tackle rotation.
COREY LAWRENCE: Lawrence may be too talented to keep off the field. May get his first look on special teams, but could see time at receiver or cornerback. I can actually see Brennan and Perry fighting over him.
POSITION MOST HELPED
DEFENSIVE TACKLE
CORNERBACK
POSITION LEAST HELPED
MIDDLE LINEBACKER: Unless something changes with Edward Williams, the Beavers struck out with their top four middle linebacker prospects. X'Zavier Preston did not qualify, Samson Faifili signed with Kansas, Kevin Palma signed with Stanford and Williams looks to be headed to Texas Tech or Tulane from recent reports.
SCHOOLS OREGON STATE HURT THE MOST
San Diego State: The Aztecs were recruiting Justin Strong, Titus Failauga and Charles Okonkwo. Okonkwo had even committed to San Diego State the week prior to signing day only to be swooped up by the Beavers on the eve of NLI Day.
SCHOOLS THAT HURT OREGON STATE THE MOST
For the first time ever, the Beavers had a 'poach' free signing day. Washington came in during the eleventh hour to grab Oregon State lean Keishawn Bierria, but other than that it was pretty pain free from the Oregon State side of things.
HURTS THE MOST THAT THEY GOT AWAY
JERMEL WALKER: Walker will not qualify and will have to go the JUCO route. He is a bigtime talent, but the signing of Hunter Jarmon helped ease the pain.
NO BIG DEAL THAT THEY GOT AWAY
SKYLER PHILLIPS: Honestly we were a little surprised that the Beavers offered Phillips when they did when we saw him at The Opening. Definitely would have been a project in the PAC 12.
DAVID AJAMU: There is no denying the talent of Ajamu, but tight end was not a huge area of need for the Beavers in 2013 and the Beavers let him go to the hometown Huskies without a huge fight.
X'ZAVIER PRESTON: The first commit at MLB for Oregon State, he was an academic casualty.
FINAL CLASS GRADE: B+
This is an above average class and it gives the Beavers back to back years with very solid recruiting classes, something that we haven't seen before. The biggest thing was that it addressed major needs at defensive tackle and cornerback, while adding speed to the safety and linebacker positions. Wide receiver was also an area of some need and the Beavers were able to respond with the signing of several solid athletes which could play several positions. They also brought in a good mix at receiver with the smaller fly sweep guys like Bolden and a bigger, stronger over the middle guy like Villamin.