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Today at practice head football coach, Jonathan Smith, gave Beaver Nation some unwelcome news. David Morris has injured his foot (separate from his previously injured foot) and will be out for quite sometime.
Jonathan Smith said David Morris is out indefinitely with another foot injury. #GoBeavs
— Bob Lundeberg (@The_Real_Bob) August 17, 2018
This comes as a huge blow for the Beavers who were looking to rely on David Morris and Jalen Moore to lead their inexperienced defense. Jeffery Manning Jr. will likely step into a starting role to open the season. Also if Landry Payne is granted a 6th year of eligibility he would be in line for more snaps.
Oddly enough David Morris was slotted at No. 9 on our Most Valuable Player Countdown list. The good news for David Morris is that he still has a redshirt season available to him. If it takes him a few months to recover he can retain another year of eligibility and still play in up to 4 games thanks to new NCAA rules.
As unfortunate as today’s news is the show must go on for the Oregon State Football team and for our countdown.
#9: David Morris - Safety
The second member of the Beavers dynamic safety duo (I think I’m the only one who calls them that) cracks the list at #9. David Morris is an absolute stud from Sherwood, Oregon. The sophomore safety was recovering from a foot fracture and before today’s injury news he was performing around 85% in practices and was hoping to be ready for Ohio State’s game, but will now need much longer to recover.
Jalen Moore and David Morris when both healthy, form an impressive duo. Last season they both racked up 75 tackles which was tied 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. With David Morris out, look for redshirt freshman Jeffery Manning to step up. The secondary is very inexperienced, but they have the talent to improve and play well this year.
The list so far:
#9 - David Morris - S
#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 #8!