FREE: Nuggets from Oregon State's first day of fall camp
BeaversEdge.com was LIVE in Corvallis for Jonathan Smith's first fall camp practice of his head coaching career. Brenden Slaughter brings the "nuggets" in this FREE article below!
- Oh it’s good to be back. The vibe around the football fields today was something that I hadn’t felt since the tail end of the 2016 season. Whether it was players getting each other hyped to the tune of Drake’s “Look Alive” or the coaches preaching fundamentals, it felt good to be around the OSU football program again which is a far departure from the feeling at the end of last season.
- Despite the uptick of energy at the start of practice, it faded a little bit as the afternoon went on as the Beavers didn’t do much together as a team, but rather focused on individual position groups with their respective coaches. For example, the quarterbacks spent more time together working on a timing and footwork drill than they did with 11-on-11 work.
- Smith and his staff have been open and blunt about the need for better fundamentals from this team, and we’re seeing it already as the Beavers continue to drill in the basics of executing the game of football.
- It’s still very much an open quarterback race as Jake Luton, Conor Blount, Jack Colletto, Aidan Willard, and Jake Dukart all took reps during the 11-on-11 work.
- Luton was the most consistent out of the group as he was the first quarterback to take reps, but also tossed two interceptions to safety Jalen Moore.
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- Blount, who added about 10 pounds in the offseason, says that he feels the best he’s felt at Oregon State. He showed it on the field as he made several nice throws, including a deep-touchdown pass to Aaron Short that showed off his deep ball throwing touch. Blount’s confidence is at an all time high, and he believes that he can win the QB job.
- Colletto appears to be on the outside looking in as far as the quarterback race goes as he struggled with accuracy and decision making, two problems that plagued him during spring.
- While Dukart had a lot of hype coming into OSU after spuring an offer from the Boston Red Sox, it’s clear that his body will need some football seasoning before he’s ready to take a stab at the starting job. His mechanics, footwork, and decision making are all above-average for a true-freshman, and if he can put the work in the weight room during his redshirt season, he could be a name to watch in the not so distant future.
- Several true-freshman who made plays on the field today were Kase Rogers, Jesiah Irish, Jermar Jefferson, and Matthew Tago. Those players really stood out on day one as they all made key plays in their first practice as a Beaver.
- In terms of some injury news, tight end Ralph Taufa’asau was on a scooter and wearing a boot on his right foot, while running back Calvin Tyler and cornerback Isaiah Dunn also did not participate. With Tyler and Dunn, I imagine it’s precautionary this early in the game, but Taufa’asau will be the guy to keep an eye on. Cornerback Dwayne Williams, who has struggled with injuries during his time at OSU, wore a very large knee brace on his left knee and was bothered by it several times. I imagine he’s still getting his football legs back under him after his ACL tear last season and that he’ll get more comfortable on the field day-by-day.
- Sticking with the secondary, it was a welcome sight to see David Morris and Jalen Moore patrolling the back end together once again. Morris and Moore’s abilities complement each other very well and they could create quite the safety tandem for the Beavers in 2018. Morris was wearing a white no-contact jersey but was running and cutting at full speed during 11-on-11 work indicating that he’s back at 100 percent.
- Sticking with the defense, the linebacker play today was quite impressive in the limited opportunities. The Beavers didn’t run much live-action work today as it was just the first day, but Kee Whetzel, Hamilcar Rashed, Jonathan Willis, and Shemar Smith were very impressive as they blitzed ball carriers, made tackles in open space, and looked more fundamentally sound as they made smart football plays. Credit to inside linebackers Trent Bray and defensive coordinator/outside linebackers coach Tim Tibesar, whose bread and butter has been outstanding linebacker play. The small steps of progress are already being shown by the players on the practice field and given where the Beavers have been on defense the past couple seasons, progress is a welcome sight.
- I was also impressed with the secondary as a whole. The unit lost some depth with the departure of Xavier Crawford, but still boasts some very intriguing top end talent in Jay Irvine, Dwayne Williams, Shawn Wilson, and Isaiah Dunn. Williams and Irvine were the most impressive in day one as they flashed great vision, speed, and quickness flying to the receiver when the ball arrived.
