The college football season is just around the corner and Building the Dam’s countdown continues with No. 10.
#10: Jalen Moore - Safety
Jalen Moore, a junior safety, is a returning starter and will team up with (a hopefully fully healthy) David Morris to form an impressive duo. With both starters returning, Oregon State’s safeties are probably their most talented position group on either side of the ball. Moore has played in 22 games (16 starts) for the Beavs. He’s racked up 94 tackles and forced two fumbles. His 75 tackles last season were tied with Morris for second on the team.
Moore has taken on a huge leadership role for this young Oregon State team and is poised to have a huge season. If David Morris isn’t fully healthy from his foot injury, look for redshirt freshman Jeffery Manning to take his place in the starting line-up next to Moore. During Saturday’s live scrimmage a significant amount of veteran secondary players were held out due to injuries, but the younger players lead by Moore played surprisingly well. The Beavers showcased tight coverages, forced a handful of interceptions and only allowed a couple of big plays on the day.
If the Beavers secondary can blanket opposing wide receivers it’ll make life a lot easier on Oregon State’s front-seven who might struggle to put pressure on opposing quarterbacks. You generally don’t want your safeties leading the team in tackles, but with the way Moore flies around and has a nose for the football I would not be surprised if he ended the year as the Beavers leading-tackler.
The list so far:
#10 - Jalen Moore - S
#11 - Timmy Hernandez - WR
#12 - Andrzej Hughes-Murray - LB
#13 - Sumner Houston - OL
#14: Trevon Bradford - WR
#15: Jonathan Willis - LB
#16: Kammy Delp - OL
#17: Jay Irvine - CB
#18: Kee Whetzel - LB
#19: Trent Moore - OL
#20: Dwayne Williams - CB
#21: LaMone Williams - DE
#22: Isaiah Dunn - CB
#23: Conor Blount - QB
#24: Omar Hicks-Onu - S
#24: Omar Hicks-Onu - S
#25: Jeromy Reichner - DE
#27: Isaac Garcia - DE
#28: Shemar Smith - LB
#29: Shawn Wilson - CB
Check back tomorrow for #9!