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After losing Isaiah Hodgins and his 1,171 yards and 13 touchdowns to the NFL Draft this past offseason, there's a massive to void to fill in the Oregon State receiving corps heading into 2020.

For the past two seasons, offensive coordinator Brian Lindgren and the Beavers' offensive staff were able to rely on the pure-talent of Hodgins to be the focal point of the passing offense, but now that he's off to the NFL, the team is going to have to adjust and tweak their passing game to suit the skill set of the current receivers.

In losing Hodgins, the Beavers lost height as he was the tallest receiver the Beavers had at 6-foot-4, and given that they now don't boast a guy who's taller than 6-foot-1, there's definitely going to be some differences in the vertical passing game this season.

"We're as fast as we've ever been on the perimeter. That's an area in the offense that we really focused on this offseason so we don't have to earn a ton of first downs because guys will be able to more make explosive plays," Lindgren said.

Oregon City native Trevon Bradford, who's entering his fifth season in Corvallis, feels that despite losing someone with the credentials and stature of Hodgins, the group is primed to be able to fill the void as the Beavers boast the most top-to-bottom talent on the edges that they've had since he's been here.

"Losing a guy like Isaiah is hard, but it's a role that we have to fill," Bradford said. "We have a lot of guys who are capable of stepping up and being the go-to receiver.

With all that speed on the edges so far this spring, quarterback Tristan Gebbia noted that the QB's have had to adjust in their timing and prep on certain plays just given that they have to get the ball down the field a lot quicker.

"Sometimes you've got a go-route and you realize that you've got to get the ball out a lot quicker to a guy like Anthony Gould compared to a tight end because he's that quick," Gebbia said. "I feel great about this entire receiving group and it's our job to play point guard and let those guys make the explosive plays."

Lindgren echoed the comments of his QB and gave high praise to strength and conditioning coach Mike McDonald and receiving coach Kefense Hynson for their ability to get the guys to where they are this spring.

"We've already seen that this spring as we have guys being able to stretch the field vertically and also take short passes for big gains,"," Lindgren said. "Coach Hynson has done a great job recruiting those guys and I'm really excited about what they can do. We're not real tall, but we've got great speed."

While height certainly won't be one of the Beavers' strengths at receiver this season, that doesn't bother Bradford one bit as he feels that as long as they execute and do what they do, it won't matter how tall they are.

"You don't have to be a tall receiver to be a good receiver," Bradford said with a smile. "Champ is one of the better guys on the team and look at how big he is... it's all about execution and the entire receiving corps has been really sharp."

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