Riley’s New Toys
The Oregon State Beavers began last season with a shocking loss to FCS Sacramento State in their first game of the season and things never got better. The Beavers lost their first 4 games and ended with a 3-9 record.
It will not be easy for head coach Mike Riley to get the Beavers back to being one of the better teams in the Pac 12, but Oregon State did have a pretty good 2012 recruiting class.
23 players signed to play for Oregon State 13 offensive players, 9 defensive players, and 1 specialist.
Here is a look at some of the possible impact players for the Beavers this season.
The Beavers lost 3 of their starting offensive lineman to graduation and that is a concern heading into this season. 6’3″ OG Isaac Seumalo was one of only 2 4-star recruits OSU signed and he is the 3rd highest OG according to Rivals.
He may play right away and some other offensive lineman that the Beavers signed are C Grant Bays (6’3″, 290-lb) and G Garrett Weinreich (6’6″ 290-lb.).
TE Caleb Smith (6’7″, 240 lbs), who is the 11th highest rated TE by Rivals, will play for OSU next season. He is a former QB with good hands and the size, but will need to hit the weight room and bulk up so he can be a better blocker.
The Beavers ranked 3rd to last in the nation last season in rushing yards per game and hopefully RB Chris Brown (5’11″, 200-lb) can help turn that around. He is a well-rounded RB that needs to bulk up some and maybe improve his pass-catching abilities.
Isaac Seumalo was one of only 2 4-star recruits OSU signed
WR’s Malik Gilmore (6’3″ 200-lb) and Zack Robinson (6’1″ 195-lb) add depth to the receiving corps, which really needs it since WR James Rodgers graduated. Gilmore has a big upside with his size and he can run very well for a guy that is 6’3″.
Robinson is a big, physical WR that has deceptive top-end speed so he is a dangerous receiver for deep balls.
On defense ILB Joel Skotte (6’2″, 225-lb) and juco transfer Cade Cowdin will also help. Skotte is very athletic and is an ex RB and he may be a great run stopper for the Beavers.
S Chris Miller (6’1″, 195-lb) can also play RB and has the size to be solid defending the run.
QB Brent Vanderveen (6’4″ 205-lb) was the lone QB that the Beavers signed and while he has the size he does not have a gun for an arm.
Still, he is very accurate and a very good athlete.
Overall, the Beavers had a good recruiting class, but there is still a lot of work to get back to where Oregon State is used to being, which is a perennial bowl team.
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