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With spring practices officially in the rearview mirror for the Oregon State football team, BeaversEdge.com kicks off the start of an analysis series breaking down into each position group on both sides of the ball.

Today, we continue with the offense and the running backs...

PREVIOUSLY - Tight Ends

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After losing Jermar Jefferson to the NFL Draft in the offseason, the Oregon State running back room certainly looked a lot different this spring.

Jefferson, who was taken in the seventh round by Detroit, had become a mainstay at the position for the past three years, racking up numerous school records along the way and arguably ushering himself onto the Mt. Rushmore of OSU backs during his illustrious four-year career.

With him no longer in tow, we got to see firsthand what the Beavers' plans are without him throughout spring as there were several familiar and some new faces who took full advantage of the suddenly available reps.

B.J. Baylor, who served as Jefferson's primary backup last season, is likely first in line to get his opportunity to be the guy this season as he regularly got reps with the first team and had some solid moments during spring.

However, South Carolina transfer Deshaun Fenwick flashed on numerous occasions and showed why he was an SEC-level running back. He's still getting versed in the offense, but he came to Oregon State to be a starter, and I wouldn't be surprised to see him take the lead at some point during fall camp.

Additionally, I really liked what I saw from Trey Lowe, and I anticipate the Beavers carving out some sort of slot-back role for him to get on the field. He's very adept at making plays in space with the ball in his hands and is capable of being able to line up at either running back or receiver.

Ta'Ron Madison & Isaiah Newell find themselves slightly on the periphery heading into fall camp, but both showed decent stuff this spring. Madison operated as a short-yardage back on several occasions with success, while Newell had been singled out by head coach Jonathan Smith for being a nice change of pace back.

All in all, it's not going to be easy to replace the likes of Jefferson, but there's enough talent in the room for the Beavers to rest easy.

Both Fenwick and Baylor are capable of handling significantly bigger workloads than they've been asked to in their college careers, while I expect Lowe to be in the mix as well. It may be more by-committee as far as production goes this year, but I don't the Beavers to take a step back in overall rushing production with this unit.