On March 5, the Oregon State Beavers will take the practice field for spring ball under head coach Jonathan Smith. BeaversEdge.com will be live in Corvallis with loads of content. In the meantime, there are a few key storylines to watch in spring ball, and we cover them this week.
Today's spring ball question is this: Will Oregon State's defensive line show strong improvement?
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The Storyline
A key contributor on the Oregon State defensive line who has exhausted his eligibility is Kalani Vakameilalo, a staple for the Beavs the past few years. Lamone Williams has also graduated.
The Oregon State defensive line returns seven scholarship players, five of whom have playing experience. OSU brought in a whopping six scholarship defensive linemen in the 2019 class with three being from the junior college ranks.
Miki Fifita, Jeromy Reichner, and Elu Aydon are the returning seniors, and Jordan Whittley joins the group. Whittley, however, is a candidate to receive an extra year of eligibility.
In the junior class, OSU brought in Simon Sandberg, who also could be in line for another year of eligibility. Both Sandberg and Whittley have missed a year of football due to injury, and like Jake Luton, could be granted a sixth year. Sandberg is coming off an ACL injury and may not be ready for the start of the season.
