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Oregon St. head football coach has announced the depth chart heading into spring practice, which will begin after spring break, on April 1.
There are several players who will miss the physical work, but there are actually enough bodies to have depth across the chart this season, a stark contrast to last year, when lingering injuries limited a number of players, especially on the offensive line. Its easy to contrast the relative success levels of the last 2 seasons by the health of the team.
OFFENSE
Split end: Obum Gwacham, Richard Mullaney (will miss spring drills with a shoulder injury), Malik Gilmore.
Slot back: Kevin Cummings, Mitch Singler, JC Grim, Stevie Curry
Flanker: Brandin Cooks, Micah Hatfield, Blair Cavanaugh, Tym Pearson
Left tackle: Michael Philipp, David Keller, Garrett Weinreich (out with knee injury), Sean Harlow
Left guard: Josh Andrews, Josh Mitchell, Justin Addie, Chase Elredge (limited participation due to knee injury)
Center: Isaac Seumalo (limited participation due to elbow injury), Roman Sapolu, Josh Mitchell, Garett Southam
Right guard: Grant Enger, Grant Bays, Jake Hatcher
Right tackle: Gavin Andrews, Nolan Hansen, Tyler Ropp
Tight end: Tyler Perry, Caleb Smith, Hayden Craig
H-back: Connor Hamlett, Kellen Clute, Dustin Stanton
Quarterback: Sean Mannion and Cody Vaz*, Richie Harrington, Brent VanderVeen
Tailback: Storm Woods, Terron Ward, Chris Brown
Fullback: Tyler Anderson (out with a knee injury), Michael Balfour, Ricky Ortiz
DEFENSE
Left end: Scott Crichton (out with a shoulder injury), John Braun, Lavonte Barnett
Left tackle: Edwin Delva, Mana Rosa, Brandon Bennett-Jackson, Noke Tago
Right tackle: Siale Hautau, Joe Lopez, Ali'i Robins, Desmond Collins, Blake Harrah
Right end: Dylan Wynn, Devon Kell, Akeem Gonzales
Outside linebacker: D.J. Alexander, Jabral Johnson, Charlie Gilmur, Kyle Gardner
Middle linebacker: Joel Skotte, Josh Williams, Jaswha James, Rommel Mageo
Outside linebacker: Michael Doctor, Shaydon Akuna, Caleb Saulo, Dyllon Mafi
Left cornerback: Sean Martin, Steven Nelson, Malcolm Marable, Naji Patrick, Mishawn Cummings
Safety: Tyrequek Zimmerman (out with toe injury), Cyril Noland-Lewis, Zack Robinson, Micah Audiss
Safety: Ryan Murphy, Kendall Hill, Steven Christian, A.J. Hedgecock
Right cornerback: Rashaad Reynolds, Jovan Stevenson, Larry Scott, Tyler Hasty
SPECIALISTS
Place-kicker: Trevor Romaine, Garrett Owens, Riley Harper, Ryan Cope
Punter: Keith Kostol, Tim McMullen
Holder: Tim McMullen, Richard Mullaney
Long snapper: Michael Morovick, Harrison Linsky
All of the players who will be held out of drills due to injury are expected to be healthy by fall camp in August, and the good news sprinkled through the chart includes linebacker D.J. Alexander being fully recovered from a shoulder injury that plagued him late in the season, and wide receiver Brandin Cooks, who had to skip the indoor track season to rehab his knee, which hampered him against Oregon, Nicholls St., and Texas, has no restrictions on him.
In another update, defensive tackle Joe Lopez has decided to transfer to Portland St. for spring term, in a decision announced the day after the depth chart was drawn up.
Everyone doubtless scrolled down to the quarterback position right away, looking for any inkling about the state of the affairs between Sean Mannion and Cody Vaz. Hence the *. Riley said saps will be split as evenly as possible between the two this spring, with the hope that one will emerge by the start of fall camp as the starter. But for now, consider it a dead heat, because Riley does.
Riley also explained further that Oregon St.'s experimentation with elements of a no-huddle, spread offense will be withing the framework of the Beavers' familiar, pro-style offense, and not a wholesale change of approach. But there's a lot that can be accomplished focused on those principals out of a pro-set. Expect the implementation to resemble how the fly-sweep was added, something that can be run at any time out of the base personnel package.
Whether that might favor the more mobile Vaz remains to be seen, but it might make stopping by a couple of the mid-day practices in April worthwhile.
Andy_Wooldridge@yahoo.com