Cliff: State of the safeties

I checked out the Oregon State safeties the last few practices, and there appears to be a good defensive foundation in the secondary.

My Monday morning blog looked at the CBs. You can check out the breakdown here.

Safety, however is even more set for the coming years. Junior starters Lance Mitchell and Cameron Collins are back this season. No. 3 guy and nickel back is senior Suaesi Tuimaunei.

They took their lumps last year, but settled down into solid players. More will be expected of them this season.

“We are a year more experienced,” Mitchell said. “We are helping the young guys now. We know what to expect. Now we can focus on the things we lacked. Instead of trying to learn the whole defense, we can focus on the little things to get better.”

Just like the CBs, there is a good group of up-and-coming youngsters. Josh LaGrone and Anthony Watkins have looked good when healthy. Zeke Sanders caught my attention a few times with his work.

Mitchell has been bothered by a tight hamstring. He wanted to take a week or more off, but came back after two days. I don’t think he wanted to get passed up.

“We are really deep at safety position,” Mitchell said. “Anybody can play. That’ why it’s a competition, and I hate to sit out. The freshmen are coming on really fast.”