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With the Oregon State football team preparing for the start of the 2023 campaign, BeaversEdge ranks the Beavers' position groups!
MORE: Day 13 Nuggets: Depth Chart Showing | WATCH: OSU Defense Talks Day 13 | WATCH: BeaversEdge Breaks Down Day 13 | Opponent Preview: UCLA | Fall Camp Nuggets Day 12: Beavers Dial Up The Competition | WATCH: Offense Talks Day 12 | FALL CAMP HQ
9. Special Teams
With the Beavers breaking in a new punter in Josh Green, and looking for kicking improvement after ranking last in the P12 a season ago, Oregon State's special teams have room to improve this season.
The kick and punt return duties are essentially handled in a solid way with Anthony Gould and Silas Bolden back in the mix, but the Beavers will need another year of strong punting and vastly improved kicking to chase a conference title.
Punter Luke Loecher had become one of the most effective punters in the conference, if not the country with his booming leg, can Green step up and keep the strong punting game going? Based on what we've seen in practices, Green should provide a lot of the same punting we've seen, but he still has to go out and prove it on Saturdays...
Moving over the kickers, there's arguably not an area where the Beavers need to improve more entering the season. Ranking last in kicking % in the conference is not where you want to be and that's why we've seen intense competition this camp between Everett Hayes and Atticus Sappington...
Ultimately, I expect Hayes to win the competition, but regardless, the Beavers need to be stronger in kicking the ball this season...
8. Tight Ends
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Checking in next on our position group countdown is the tight end room...
The Beavers have arguably the best collection of top-to-bottom talent in the Jonathan Smith era in tow, but they're going to have to prove they can be a reliable part of the passing attack to take the next step.
The TE run-blocking prowess has been well-documented, as position coach Brian Wozniak prides his group on being an asset to the rushing attack. However, for the group to really be a problem to deal with, they'll need to add more receiving production.
The four-headed monster of Jake Overman, Jack Velling, Jermaine Terry, and Riley Sharp has the potential to offer up some of the most complete TE play OSU has seen in years, and I imagine the Beavers will get very creative with getting these guys the ball...
7. Receivers
Headlined by Anthony Gould and Silas Bolden, Oregon State's receiving corps will be tasked with replacing Tyjon Lindsey and Tre'Shaun Harrison this season.
With a bigger emphasis on passing and having DJ U under center, the Beavers' receiving numbers figure to be much-improved this season.
The depth behind Gould, Bolden, and Jesiah Irish is still unclear as the Beavers have been rotating a lot of guys, but expect JUCO transfer Jamai East, Jimmy Valsin, Zach Card, and David Wells to be in the mix...
For the Beavers to chase a Pac-12 Championship this season, and potentially even more, they'll need to get more production from the receivers. Some of that lack of production is on the QB, some on the receivers themselves, but regardless, the Beavers need to be better at connecting via the pass, notably the deep ball...
Ideally, the Beavers would like to see Gould or Bolden have an Isaiah Hodgins-type season and push for 1,000 yards, especially with improved QB play...
The talent is definitely there, and Gould and Bolden are really good playmakers, it's going to be interesting to see who else in the room rises to the occasion.
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