The 3-2-1: Breaking Down Week 1 of Fall Camp

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With the Oregon State football team preparing to start its second week of fall camp in advance of the Nov. 7th home-opener against Washington State, BeaversEdge.com Managing Editor Brenden Slaughter gives three things we learned, poses two questions, and gives one prediction.

MORE: Beavers in the NFL: Week 6 Recap | OSU Football: Quotes of the Week | The EDGE POD: Talkin' Week 1 of Fall Camp

1. Competition is fierce at all positions

-> For the first time in what feels like a very long time, the Oregon State football team is primed to enter the 2020 season armed with talented depth at each and every position.

The Beavers certainly struggled for the better part of the 2010s, but the tide has been turning since the team hired Jonathan Smith after the '17 season. It's been a process full of growing pains as far as not having the ideal talent and numbers at every position across the board the past two seasons, but those problems appear long gone.

If there's one consistent theme that we heard from the coaching staff throughout the first week, it's that there's been really good competition at all positions. Competition breeds success and with the Beavers having backups be potentially just as good at several key positions this season, there's no question that the best is yet to come.

Miss any content from week 1? We've got you covered...

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2. Defense Primed For A Big Leap

-> Could this be the season we see Oregon State yield a top-six Pac-12 defense? That's a far cry from where the Beavers were when Smith and defensive coordinator Tim Tibesar inherited the defense several years ago, but there's ample evidence to support the notion.

After being gashed like a knife through better in '18, the Beavers showed real progress on the defensive side of the ball in '19, leading many both internally and externally connected with the program to believe that defense could be the teams' calling card this season.

When you combine the Beavers' returning production and incoming JC talent with the fact that Andrezj Hughes-Murray, Addison Gumbs, and Jeromy Reichner are all back from injury, there's no question that there's going to be a lot of playmakers on that side of the ball.