With the Oregon State football team set to kick-off the fourth year of the Jonathan Smith era with the start of spring football on April 6th, BeaversEdge.com begins the first of a three-part series previewing the team.
Today, we begin with the offensive skill positions that will include the quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers, and tight ends.
Only scholarship players included...
Quarterbacks
Tristan Gebbia - Redshirt Junior - 6-foot-2 - 201 pounds
2020 Stats: 80-of-120 (62%), 824 yards, 3 TD, 39 INT - 45 rush yards, 1 TD - 4 GP (3 starts)
SPIN-> After suffering a season-ending hamstring injury against Oregon that required a lengthy offseason rehab, Tristan Gebbia will be looking to return to 100% during the spring session.
Originally, when the Beavers thought they'd be holding spring in March as opposed to April, there was a good chance that Gebbia would have missed a portion of the session due to rehab, but now that the team has elected to start April 6th, there's a decent chance he's close to ready to go by the start.
If that's the case, it would be huge for Gebbia as far as keeping pace with the talent beneath him as he'll have to work all spring and summer long to fight off competition from the likes of Chance Nolan, Ben Gulbranson, & Sam Vidlak.
On the surface, Gebbia still has the most logical track to the starting position as he spent a year as Jake Luton's backup before earning the starting role last year.
He's the most experienced quarterback the team has in regards to game experience and playbook knowledge, but he'll have to show he's still better than the rest of the room to be OSU's leading man again...
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Chance Nolan: Rs-Sophomore 6-foot-3, 200 pounds
2020 Stats: 46-of-91 (51%), 537 yards, 6 TD, 2 INT - 45 rush yards, 1 TD - 4 GP (3 start)
Spin-> After finishing the year as Oregon State's starting quarterback in place of the injured Gebbia, Chance Nolan showed flashes of offering the QB position production it hasn't seen since Jake Luton in terms of its downfield passing ability.
However, Nolan wasn't able to lead OSU to wins in the final two games, or show anything brilliant that deemed him to be named the starter heading into spring, so it'll be interesting to see where he's at during the spring session.
Between what he brings with his legs, and what he offers with his downfield passing ability, I think that with another offseason of seasoning in the system that Nolan will be really tough to say no to as the starting quarterback. There's a ton of competition left to play out, but I think right now I'd say Nolan would be my pick.
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Ben Gulbranson - Freshman - 6-foot-3, 209 pounds
Spin-> While Ben Gulbranson only appeared in one game in 2020, his performance against the Sun Devils in the season-finale certainly makes him a dark-horse candidate heading into spring. In relief of Nolan, Gulbranson went 6-of-9 for 64 yards and a touchdown against ASU, looking equal parts poised and loose playing really good football under center.
Now, could that have just been one really good performance in the face of adrenaline? Sure, but knowing what we saw from Gulbranson in the spring, he's had this ability ever since he arrived and that's a very exciting development.
Gulbranson was one of the Beavers' most prized four-year quarterback recruits in the Smith-era and there's no doubt he sees this year as a chance to win the job after paying his dues in year one.
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Sam Vidlak - Freshman - 6-foot-1, 185 pounds
Spin-> One of the few 2021 recruits that decided to enroll early in time for spring practices, Sam Vidlak will be looking to hit the ground running when he arrives in Corvallis.
The 6-foot-1, 185-pound Grants Pass, Ore. native represents arguably OSU's best in-state quarterback recruit since Derek Andersen way back in the early 2000s and that's created a fair amount of hype around him as he enters the program.
While Vidlak enrolled early to get a jump start on the competition and perhaps even have a rough shot at competing for the job this season, the reality is that he's got some guys in front of him that has some good experience, Moxy, and feel for playing quarterback at the power five level.
Like Gulbranson did this last spring, I expect Vidlak to wow us in several areas this spring, but I'm not sure it'll be enough to climb the depth chart quickly enough to make a play this season. However, he's a guy with an unmatched work ethic and I'm excited to see what he'll be able to bring right off the bat.
