Pretty loaded nugget report here! Enjoy.
- As you all know, I was out for a couple weeks as I got married and went on my honeymoon, and I missed a bunch of commitments. I wanted to confirm the positions of some of the new commits... Evan Bennett is coming in as a nose tackle... Ryan Franke is an outside linebacker. He plays an interior DL spot for his high school because they need him there but he's more of a natural OLB... Michael Erhart is an ILB for Oregon State... Like Franke, Omar Speights also plays out of position for his high school but he's either a ILB or OLB for the Beavs. He's likely going to play ILB to start.
-When Speights initially committed, my first thoughts were that he'd be a tough one to hold onto, and with several months until NSD, he may have some second thoughts about his commitment, as is often the case with top recruits making commitments to schools on the other side of the country. However, I'm hearing really good things about just how firm Speights is with OSU. One source went as far to say that Speights is more solid in his pledge than just about every other commit in the Beavs' 2019 class. Pretty encouraging to here as Speights is an absolute game changer at linebacker.
- Speaking of solid commits, things are looking much better now with OSU DE commit Kelsen Hennessy. He was looking around a bit and hoping for more offers, and he told Oregon Live that he was done looking around. I'm told that Hennessy basically realized that Oregon State had everything that he wanted and didn't need to look around anymore. Good news as Hennessy is a solid player.
- Moving on to QB recruiting.. The dominoes just continue to fall. Hank Bachmeier, Joey Yellen, Kedon Slovis, and Paul Piferi are all off the board with them making commitments elsewhere over the past month. The two QB's Oregon State is focused on (who currently hold offers from OSU) are Nathan Lamb and Michael Johnson Jr. With Lamb, he's the lone official visitor for Oregon State this weekend, and there's a pretty decent chance he commits to the Beavers this weekend. And if it's not this weekend, it's likely that he pulls the trigger in the near future.... A source close to Johnson Jr. tells me that Oregon State is definitely a player for him but Miami and a couple of other schools are more likely options for him. Beavs definitely have a good puncher's chance though.
- So let's play out a couple of scenarios. If Lamb commits this weekend, then the Beavs are in a good spot. They'll have their QB who is solid and can grow into a pretty good passer. I would fully expect for OSU to still go after Johnson Jr. because of just how good of a talent he is. And I would also fully expect that Oregon State would inform Lamb of this so that he's not surprised when they keep recruiting Johnson Jr. That's my pretty educated guess.... But let's play out another scenario: Oregon State strikes out on Lamb and Johnson Jr. Then what? Three options in my mind: 1. Offer someone like Weston Eget or Dawson Lieurance and move forward with them. 2. Just stand pat and see if any other quarterbacks decommit from their schools and OSU can scoop them up. 3. Jake Dukart really impresses the coaching staff in August and they decide they don't even need to take a 2019 QB because they love what they have in him... Again, the most likely option here is that OSU does get Lamb, but the Beavs have plenty of options here. Yes, they've lost some of their top QB options, but there's no reason to panic.
- Regarding Mike Riley, I've heard that the rumors of him leaving Oregon State for the new American Football League had been swirling around for a couple of weeks before the news broke. From what I've been told, everyone from Jonathan Smith down is totally understanding and supportive of Riley's decision. (Now granted, I'm getting secondhand information, but still.) Riley's retirement home is in San Antonio (where he'll be coaching) and this new league is legit and has some real money and opportunities in it. It was simply something Riley couldn't turn down. Riley still wants to be involved with OSU in some capacity so we'll see how that goes moving forward.
- Who replaces RIley? I'd imagine it will be an in-house hire unless there's someone out there that Smith really wants and likes. The two names that are possibilities to take the job are Brian Wozniak, who is already an integral part of coaching the TE's and in recruiting TE's for OSU, and Matt Troxel, who comes to OSU after spending time at Idaho State as an offensive coordinator/QB's coach. Both are pretty good options and we'll see what Smith does.
- Couple of final notes.. Four-star TE Isaiah Foskey visited OSU recently, but there's very little chance OSU actually gets him. He visited some PNW schools and just stopped in at OSU.
- Recently offered CB Alex Austin could pull the trigger with an Oregon State commitment pretty soon. He's really fired up about Oregon State. If OSU gets him, they'll have commitments from recruits from Mater Dei, Oaks Christian, and Long Beach Poly -- three of the premier high schools in southern California. That would be huge!
- As you all know, I was out for a couple weeks as I got married and went on my honeymoon, and I missed a bunch of commitments. I wanted to confirm the positions of some of the new commits... Evan Bennett is coming in as a nose tackle... Ryan Franke is an outside linebacker. He plays an interior DL spot for his high school because they need him there but he's more of a natural OLB... Michael Erhart is an ILB for Oregon State... Like Franke, Omar Speights also plays out of position for his high school but he's either a ILB or OLB for the Beavs. He's likely going to play ILB to start.
-When Speights initially committed, my first thoughts were that he'd be a tough one to hold onto, and with several months until NSD, he may have some second thoughts about his commitment, as is often the case with top recruits making commitments to schools on the other side of the country. However, I'm hearing really good things about just how firm Speights is with OSU. One source went as far to say that Speights is more solid in his pledge than just about every other commit in the Beavs' 2019 class. Pretty encouraging to here as Speights is an absolute game changer at linebacker.
- Speaking of solid commits, things are looking much better now with OSU DE commit Kelsen Hennessy. He was looking around a bit and hoping for more offers, and he told Oregon Live that he was done looking around. I'm told that Hennessy basically realized that Oregon State had everything that he wanted and didn't need to look around anymore. Good news as Hennessy is a solid player.
- Moving on to QB recruiting.. The dominoes just continue to fall. Hank Bachmeier, Joey Yellen, Kedon Slovis, and Paul Piferi are all off the board with them making commitments elsewhere over the past month. The two QB's Oregon State is focused on (who currently hold offers from OSU) are Nathan Lamb and Michael Johnson Jr. With Lamb, he's the lone official visitor for Oregon State this weekend, and there's a pretty decent chance he commits to the Beavers this weekend. And if it's not this weekend, it's likely that he pulls the trigger in the near future.... A source close to Johnson Jr. tells me that Oregon State is definitely a player for him but Miami and a couple of other schools are more likely options for him. Beavs definitely have a good puncher's chance though.
- So let's play out a couple of scenarios. If Lamb commits this weekend, then the Beavs are in a good spot. They'll have their QB who is solid and can grow into a pretty good passer. I would fully expect for OSU to still go after Johnson Jr. because of just how good of a talent he is. And I would also fully expect that Oregon State would inform Lamb of this so that he's not surprised when they keep recruiting Johnson Jr. That's my pretty educated guess.... But let's play out another scenario: Oregon State strikes out on Lamb and Johnson Jr. Then what? Three options in my mind: 1. Offer someone like Weston Eget or Dawson Lieurance and move forward with them. 2. Just stand pat and see if any other quarterbacks decommit from their schools and OSU can scoop them up. 3. Jake Dukart really impresses the coaching staff in August and they decide they don't even need to take a 2019 QB because they love what they have in him... Again, the most likely option here is that OSU does get Lamb, but the Beavs have plenty of options here. Yes, they've lost some of their top QB options, but there's no reason to panic.
- Regarding Mike Riley, I've heard that the rumors of him leaving Oregon State for the new American Football League had been swirling around for a couple of weeks before the news broke. From what I've been told, everyone from Jonathan Smith down is totally understanding and supportive of Riley's decision. (Now granted, I'm getting secondhand information, but still.) Riley's retirement home is in San Antonio (where he'll be coaching) and this new league is legit and has some real money and opportunities in it. It was simply something Riley couldn't turn down. Riley still wants to be involved with OSU in some capacity so we'll see how that goes moving forward.
- Who replaces RIley? I'd imagine it will be an in-house hire unless there's someone out there that Smith really wants and likes. The two names that are possibilities to take the job are Brian Wozniak, who is already an integral part of coaching the TE's and in recruiting TE's for OSU, and Matt Troxel, who comes to OSU after spending time at Idaho State as an offensive coordinator/QB's coach. Both are pretty good options and we'll see what Smith does.
- Couple of final notes.. Four-star TE Isaiah Foskey visited OSU recently, but there's very little chance OSU actually gets him. He visited some PNW schools and just stopped in at OSU.
- Recently offered CB Alex Austin could pull the trigger with an Oregon State commitment pretty soon. He's really fired up about Oregon State. If OSU gets him, they'll have commitments from recruits from Mater Dei, Oaks Christian, and Long Beach Poly -- three of the premier high schools in southern California. That would be huge!
