Oregon State Football Spring Analysis: Defensive Line

Heading into the 2021 season, there's arguably no position group that's more directly tied to Oregon State's potential success than the defensive line.

Ever since head coach Jonathan Smith and defensive line coach Legi Suianoa arrived, the Beavers haven't had a defensive line capable of being able to hold their own for an entire contest, let alone a season.

Due to lack of depth, untimely injuries, and inconsistent play, the defensive line just hasn't developed as quickly as many of the other position groups have during the tenure of Smith, lending credence to the notion that this is a big-time make or break season.

With that being said, what the defensive line was able to show during spring workouts definitely gave me optimism for the upcoming season. While the Beavers didn't go out and land a bunch of marquee instant-impact transfers during the offseason, the depth in place has taken a sizable step forward and those guys have a big care factor heading into the year.

Veteran leaders like Simon Sandberg and Isaac Hodgins both spoke of having a huge desire to finally take that next step this year and based on the play of the unit throughout, the path towards yielding a solid rotation began to show itself.

Anchored by Sandberg and Hodgins, the group welcomed back Jeromy Reichner after an opt-out season and then looked to a younger crop to help with depth. Tavis Shippen, Sione Lolohea, Kelsen Hennessy, & Omarion Fa'amoe all received key reps and will be in the mix entering fall camp as well.

While James Rawls was held out of the majority of spring with a lower-body injury, he's expected to be 100% by the start of fall camp, and he'll be a huge piece to the puzzle as he's flashed some really good moments during his tenure. Additionally, Thomas Sio moved to DL after the conclusion of spring, so he'll be another big body in the mix for playing time as well.

All in all, spring was key in the sense that it showed that the Beavers are building towards a defensive line they feel they can win with. Obviously, you'd like to have another piece or two but with the addition of Keonte Schad combined with the ability to still utilize the portal, I think the Beavs are in a decent spot heading into the year.

Now, it's up to them to prove their capability of holding their own on Saturdays...