Advertisement
football Edit

OSU Spring Football: 5 things I’m looking forward to

With the new-look Oregon State football team set to debut spring practice next Wednesday, BeaversEdge.com senior writer Brenden Slaughter gives his take on what he’s looking forward to seeing this spring.

Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up now!

Advertisement

1. Jonathan Smith in action

After four months of waiting, we finally get to see what the Beavers will look like under Jonathan Smith. The former Fiesta Bowl winning quarterback took over the helm at his alma mater in December and has hit the ground running ever since building his program brick by brick. Smith has handled everything from hiring his staff to offseason workouts to recruiting and everything in between in his four months as the Beaver head man. With April now upon us, we finally get to see Smith leading his team on the practice field. We’ll learn all the nuances of Smith as a head coach, and I’m excited to see the care factor he brings to Corvallis being the famous former player that he was.

2. The quarterback battle

Perhaps the most intriguing question heading into spring ball is who is going to be under center for the Beavers when the first snap is taken. Is it going to be Jake Luton? Perhaps Aidan Willard? Jack Colletto? Conor Blount? Mason Moran? The bottom line is, right now we have no idea. Luton was hoping to be ready for the start of spring ball following his recovery from a thoracic spine fracture but there hasn’t been any news regarding his return. Willard and Coletto don’t have division one game experience while Blount and Moran haven’t done much in their little in-game experience to prove they deserve to be in the mix. The spring will be a great time for these guys to duke it out amongst each other and create their own pecking order of sorts. Luton is the de-facto front runner in my mind if he’s healthy, but there is so much uncertainty surrounding his status so it’s hard to say if he’ll be the first player to take a rep. Look for all the QB’s to showcase their skills, but I believe Willard and Colletto will be right in the mix to get a lion's share of reps in addition to Luton.

3. Defensive line development

While all eyes might be on the quarterback battle, the most important position group to keep an eye on starting next week is the defensive line. This position group has been a struggle for the Beavers over the past few seasons as OSU has ranked near the bottom of the Pac-12 in sacks in 2015, 2016 and 2017. In order for the Beavers to get back to a competitive level in the Pac-12 they need to get better in the trenches and it all starts with their D-linemen. The Beavers currently list just four total defensive tackles on their roster and only three of them are on scholarship. Outside of those three schollie DT’s, OSU has just three defensive end’s on scholarship which leads to a grand total of just six total scholarship defensive lineman. That is a very small number and the lack of depth could be problematic for the Beavers in 2018.

4. Staff communication

After interacting and watching the Gary Andersen staff over the past few seasons, I’m very excited to see how much different Smith and Co. handle their business. Despite the Beavers only winning one game last season, it doesn’t mean that they have bad players. Sometimes it takes the right coach or coaches pushing the right buttons to get the most out of their players. Since Smith’s arrival, he noted that every position was going to be up for grabs and that everyone would have a clean slate leading me to believe that there will be a renewed sense of work ethic and competition amongst the team. Competition breeds success and a coaching staff with as much experience as this one has to have the ability to implement the right culture and mindset amongst the players. OSU’s last staff fell apart and dissention amongst the coaches was evident and the players didn’t know who to trust. The coaches have to be clear and demanding with their expectations so players can develop trust in their coaches.

5. Who emerges at running back

With Ryan Nall headed for the NFL and Thomas Tyner and Trevorris Johnson out of eligibility, OSU doesn’t have much depth or experience this year. Outside of Artavis Pierce, who will be the obvious frontrunner for the starting job, the Beavers don’t have proven options. Calvin Tyler Jr. practically wasted his redshirt season last year and BJ Baylor is coming off a redshirt season. OSU has other reinforcements coming in the fall, but it will be interesting to see how the backfield shakes out largely with these three guys. In past years as offensive coordinator at Washington, Smith has used a two running back rotation, but Brian Lindgren at Colorado focused more on a one-back set where Phillip Lindsay received the lion's share of the carries. I anticipate Smith and Lindgren to adapt to their personnel, and give Tyler Jr. and Baylor most of the spring ball carries in order to not put unnecessary hits and wear and tear on their feature back in Pierce.

Advertisement