Why Quarterback Prospects Should Consider Oregon State

USA Today wrote a story this week that ranked the college football programs from 1-130. They listed the Beavers as the No. 125 team in the country, which may not be accurate, but after a 1-11 season, where the one win came from behind against a lowly FCS school, the ranking is hard to argue.

So why should a quarterback prospect consider Oregon State? I was asked this question last week and thought it'd make for an interesting article and discussion on BeaversEdge.com's The Dam Board. I answer the question below.

In the 2018 recruiting class, the Beavers had a commitment from four-star quarterback Spencer Petras, but he ended up breaking that pledge and flipped to Iowa. I had a good source who told me that Petras was going to enroll early at OSU in January, had a legitimate chance to fight for the starting job as a true freshman, and at least would have probably been the backup.

I know most Beaver fans read that and are probably upset at me for even bringing Petras up. But Oregon State has not found the answer at quarterback since Sean Mannion threw his last pass in 2014, and it's pretty likely that even after this season OSU will not have a definitive QB answer headed into the 2019 season.

Oregon State's top QB recruits, such as Paul Piferi and Hank Bachmeier, have a legitimate chance to get playing time as a freshman, which leads me to my next point.

A young quarterback can come to Corvallis, turn the program around, and be the savior of the program. The Beavs haven't had a 10 win season since 2006 and it was 2013 when OSU participated in its most recent bowl game.

You see a lot of quarterbacks that are real fiery guys that want to take on challenges to turn around teams, and there's no bigger task than turning around Oregon State in the Pac-12 conference.

A quarterback prospect can go to a USC, UCLA, or Washington and compete with other top level prospects just like themselves, or go to Oregon State, where they are more likely to start earlier in their career and have the chance to go down in Beaver history. Of course, a quarterback needs a good offensive line and a semblance of a running back to stay healthy and have success. Good thing that OSU has a solid offensive coaching staff.

Oregon State got an absolute steal in Jim Michalczik from Arizona, who is considered one of the best offensive line coaches in the Pac-12. Michael Pitre does not have a lot of experience, but is an up-and-coming coach who should greatly help OSU recruit top running backs. Brian Lindgren wasn't a flashy hire by Oregon State but is a proven play caller who understands what it takes to rebuild an offense (see Colorado's 2016 season).

There's also this guy named Mike Riley, not sure if you've heard of him. He's just won the most games as a head coach in school history and has put multiple quarterbacks in the NFL. He's the tight ends coach, which isn't a demanding job and helps guide the younger coaches on the staff.

And then there's Jonathan Smith, the new head coach, who has learned under one of the top five coaches in America for the past decade in Chris Petersen at Boise State and Washington.

If a quarterback prospect wants to turn Oregon State around, who better to play under than Jonathan Smith, who led the Beavers to their best season in school history in the 2000-01 season? I'd argue no one.

With the three-headed coaching monster of Smith, Riley, and Lindgren, you have three very bright offensive minds with excellent coaching experience and know how to turn programs around, with two of them already having great success at OSU in the past. They know how to turn things around.

Since 2005, Oregon State quarterbacks Derek Anderson, Sean Canfield, and Sean Mannion were selected in the NFL Draft. This does not include Matt Moore, who was undrafted but has been in the league for more than a decade.

So that's just three since 2005. Big whoop. No big deal, right?

Well, let's look at the numbers. USC, UCLA, Washington, Stanford, and Oregon are considered the top echelon programs in the Pac-12 right now. Let's look at the amount of quarterbacks those schools have put in the NFL since 2005.

USC: 7 (Sam Darnold, Cody Kessler, Matt Barkley, Mark Sanchez, John David Booty, Matt Leinart, and Matt Cassell)

The Trojans are clearly the cream of the crop in the Pac-12 when it comes to putting QB's in the NFL, but how successful they are in the league is a whole different conversation. But I digress..

Stanford: 3 (Andrew Luck, Trent Edwards, Kevin Hogan)

Oregon: 3 (Marcus Mariota, Dennis Dixon, Kellen Clemens)

UCLA: 2 (Josh Rosen and Brett Hundley)

Washington: 1 (Jake Locker)

So clearly, Oregon State having three quarterbacks selected in the NFL Draft, and Matt Moore obviously should have been drafted, puts them right up there with the cream of the crop in the Pac-12.

To end this piece, let me be clear in that I am no Oregon State homer nor a "fan" in any way. But when you look at the circumstances surrounding Beaver football, it is more attractive to play for OSU as a quarterback than you may think.