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Oregon State Football: Pac-12 Media Names Nathan Eldridge & Avery Roberts To Preseason All-Conference Second Team

Meanwhile, Isaac Hodgins and Joshua Gray found themselves on the honorable mention list.

By The_Coach
Oregon State Spring Scrimmage Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images

Pac-12 media day wasn’t overly kind to Oregon State again, who had just two players in center Nathan Eldridge and linebacker Avery Roberts selected to the All-Pac-12 second team, on the same occasion that the program as a whole was picked to finish near the bottom of the league once again.

Eldridge, who recently was named to the Rimington Trophy (best center in college football) and Outland Trophy (best interior lineman in college football) watch lists, fell to the second-team offense behind a loaded group of next-level talent which includes Washington’s Jaxon Kirkland, Washington State’s Abraham Lucas, Arizona State’s Dohnovan West, Utah’s Nick Ford and Oregon’s Alex Forsyth.

However, the redshirt senior claimed a post-season spot last year on the All-Pac-12 First-Team, over the likes of Forsyth and Lucas and maybe should’ve been given the benefit of the doubt heading into his final go-round. He’ll now have to fight to regain that spot throughout the season.

As for Roberts, the tackling machine who was also an All-Pac-12 First-Team selection at the end of last year, dropped to the preseason second-team as well, giving way to Utah’s Devin Lloyd, USC’s Drake Jackson and Colorado’s Nate Landman to take the first-team spots.

Roberts, also has his own list of preseason watch list nods which include the Butkus Award (best linebacker in college football) and Bednarik Award (best defensive player in college football).

Rounding up the honorable mentions were defensive lineman Isaac Hodgins and offensive lineman Joshua Gray, both of whom are expected to play notable roles for the Beavers this season. The latter of the two in Gray, was an All-Pac-12 Second-Team choice last season as a freshman and could emerge as one of the biggest surprise talents in the conference this season.

The Beavers open their season in just over a month on Saturday, September 4th against Purdue at 4:00 PM PT in West Lafayette, Indiana. The game will be televised nationally on Fox Sports 1.