TE Caleb Smith, left, could be a force for OSU. PHOTO/Seattle Times
Oregon State football coach Mike Riley said there won’t be 10 true freshmen playing significantly like last season again.
However, he said there will be some. The 2012 recruiting class has a lot of talent, and in areas the Beavers need.
Here are my picks for players who can play right away.
OL Isaac Seumalo
The four-star recruit was ranked the No. 3 OG in the country by Rivals and No. 2 by SuperPrep, and No. 52 overall prospect in the country by Rivals. The OL needs to be rebuilt and the 6-foot-4, 290-pounder is the cornerstone.
OL Stan Hasiak
Came out of high school as a four-star athlete and No. 4 OG nationally before joining UCLA breifly. Gained experience at Juco before signing with Oregon State. The 6-foot-4, 295-pounder was recruited for a quick impact.
OLB Cade Cowdin
The three-star, 6-foot-2, 220-pounder was ranked No. 32 on the SuperPrep Juco 100. There’s a open position Riley wanted to fill with a fast, experienced player.
OLB Dyllon Mafi
The three-star athlete was a JC Bureau first-team All-American at Laney College in Oakland, Calif. He’s a 6-foot-3, 210-pounder. Riley liked his speed and how hard he hit.
TE Caleb Smith
The four-star athlete is game-ready, Riley said. He’s a 6-foot-6, 250-pounder from Renton, Wash. Smith was ranked the No. 11 TE in the country and No. 7 prospect in the state of Washington. He plans to graduate early and join the team for spring practice.
OLB Caleb Saulo
The 6-foot-2, 215-pounder was a productive player from Kent, Wash., who played LB and QB. His athletic ability will get him on the field on special teams. Saulo also plans to join the team in time for spring practice.
32 comments
OSUSupporter says:
Feb 2, 2012
Cliff, what about at RB? I think we need to see Chris Brown on the field next year. Riley isn’t afraid to use true freshmen in the RB position, and Brown seems like he’s the real deal. Last year all of our guys seemed to cough up the ball at the wrong times and if Brown can hang on to the rock, he’ll play (at least I hope he will). We need a run game.
Cliff Kirkpatrick says:
Feb 2, 2012
Brown will be given a chance, Riley said.
However, with Agnew, Ward, Stevenson with experience back, and Storm Woods off a redshirt season, that’s a crowded position.
When healthy Agnew looked good, Stevenson almost always looked good. All of them can get it done with blocking.
While the concept of multiple running backs sounds good, I’ve yet to see it done well with the Beavers. They need to find “the guy” and a very solid to good backup who is used on a regular basis.
That means, with this roster, three guys watching most of the time.
pos0x45 says:
Feb 2, 2012
Agnew looked great except for his propensity to fumble. Quizz sure spoiled us.
OSUSupporter says:
Feb 2, 2012
Cliff, I accept that we have some good young RBs in the fold already, and I guess we will just have to wait and see who steps up. I do like the idea of “the guy” who gets all the carries…let’s just hope they learn to hang on to the ball.
bbb says:
Feb 3, 2012
i say use up a red shirt for either brown or agnew. who ever is playing best should play next year. stevenson is a good insurance policy. ward is really not a d1 back or at least an every down d1 back. i would guess that if storm woods was really good, he would have played last year.
it is crowded in numbers but its not like we got quizz, yb, and sj all in the program at the same time.
maffu72 says:
Feb 3, 2012
Don’t forget guys can develop. Where they are one year does not directly translate to where they’ll be next year.
Also, the preference is to redshirt running backs. Quizz & Steven Jackson were anomalies… and they spoiled us. I think all of those guys has the potential to deliver provided they develop & they have holes to run through.
Let’s not indict Woods as an inferior talent because he didn’t see the field last year… I mean how many freshmen running backs did we need?
RenoNVbeavr says:
Feb 2, 2012
Cliff- Tell me that Langsdorf is going to abandon that TE screen in the middle of the field play that nearly everybody in the stands could determine the Beavers were using, let alone the opposing defense? Time to get creative with the use of the TE, particularly a talented one in Caleb Smith. It was absotuely criminal that the best TE in the conf -Joe Halahuni- was almost an afterthought in this offense last year. Hopefully Langsdorf will take a cue from Stanford’s playbook and get his talented TE’s in open space vs a LB.
wcjr says:
Feb 2, 2012
Once again, Reno, Reno, Reno!!! You used Langsdorf and creative in the same paragraph. You are hereby severely castigated. You yourself I’m sure realize you should know better. After all, as I’ve said before, this is an offense that has left an NFL Hall of Fame QB “taken aback” by how predictable it is. You are, however, forgiven as I’m sure you realize the error of your ways.
maffu72 says:
Feb 2, 2012
That’s it…
I’m calling Bobby D later this evening at home & I’m imploring him to have Riley fire Langsdorf & Banker tomorrow if he wants to keep his job.
There are two CLASS A replacements out there: wcjr to lead the offense & bbb to lead the D. These guys have all the answers… are never wrong… and they practically ooze class.
Make the hires, Beavs… you won’t REGRET it!
D-eL says:
Feb 2, 2012
72, you said it better than i could but i’ve pondered similar thoughts for some time now. i hate to lose and i have criticisms but i fear being associated with the fire riley et al crowd.
be ready for the pending flak though that you just aren’t as devoted fan.
RenoNVBeavr says:
Feb 2, 2012
Can I lead Special Teams, Maffu???
maffu72 says:
Feb 3, 2012
I’ll have to ask Angry Beav… he’s the new head coach. I’ll put in a good word for you, though Reno…
orb says:
Feb 2, 2012
Maffu, I can’t believe that someone professing to be as football knowledgable as you are is content with Danny’s play-calling. Can you honestly say you are satisfied with the great majority of what he comes up with?
maffu72 says:
Feb 3, 2012
It’s a balanced offense… it is predicated upon being able to run and pass. When it’s executed correctly, it works. When it’s executed incorrectly, it doesn’t work.
In long yardage situations, the offense is in trouble. That’s a universal truth in football.
RenoNVBeavr says:
Feb 2, 2012
I retract my entire post, WCJR. You have made me see the folly in my ways. Langsdorf = MPOCCF (Most Predictable Offensive Coordinator in College Football). Why would I think he would adjust the offense to the talent around him, sans the painfully obtuse Mark Banker.
RenoNVBeavr says:
Feb 2, 2012
Just read that Boise St has had an average recruiting ranking of #73 in the country the past 5 years. Let me repeat: An average of #73, with their best class ever coming at #53 a year after they lost 1 game. Yet, Boise St has had the best record of any team in the country over that same span. Is this just a collossal fluke??? Also despite such impressive records over that period, Boise State did not field ONE 4-star athlete in this year’s class (OBTW Kellen Moore was a 3-star athlete that OS didnt feel could play in the Pac 12). Do you think this bothers Chris Petersen in the least? I seriously doubt it. Petersen knows how to evaluate talent and, more importantly, knows how to coach, making adjustments to the talent he has and to the opponents he is playing. Time to put away the ludicrous notion that Corvallis a tough place to recruit.
Pos0x45 says:
Feb 3, 2012
Reno, I agree. Recruiting rankings don’t mean squat and Petersen is a great coach. So, back to MR and Beaver football. The recruiting class looks great and I see OSU back to winning seasons. And, I think Riley does a great job with with both evaluating talent and developing that talent. Boise State does not face the same level of competition that Pac 12 schools face week after week. The comparison with their success is biased in favor of BSU. That being said, OSU has been through some tough times these last couple of years. They have lost starters due to attrition and injury and they have had some issues with recruiting. They have addressed these problems by replacing their trainer and linebackers coach with fresh blood. If not for Heyward defecting, they would be looking even better right now.
Maffu is a good example of someone who sees the positive and posts good analysis of what is going on. The incessant complaining by those few that do nothing but blame people for not doing things the way they think they should be done becomes tiring to filter through in order to find posts which actually talk about football. Pointing fingers and laying blame are the hallmark of how politicians run their campaigns. Something which results in a candidate becoming elected whose thoughts and solutions are really unknown.
For those on the “Fire Mike Riley” bandwagon, tell us who you would get to replace him. Name some names and why they would do a better job. Maffu’s comment about having wjcr and bbb come in and coach is comedy gold. Can you see those guys actually sitting on the sidelines directing traffic? Each play would have two outcomes, success or failure. If a play failed all they would do is complain about the play failing and how bad the players are. If the play succeeded, all they would do is cite the play that failed and complain about how bad the players are.
Mike Riley is great for OSU and I see a winning season this year. So, when they win the civil war (which they will do this upcoming season), I would like to see some gratitude from the heavy complainers. Not, whining about not going to the “natty” or losing to Sac State this last year.
RenoNVbeavr says:
Feb 3, 2012
POS – Yes, on paper this is one of the better recruiting classes I have seen from the Beavs in years. Did they miss out on some talent that would have helped (i.e. Shelton, Wallace, Lawler, Tonga)? Absolutely. However, this is the hand the Beavs were dealt and they are going to have have to maximize as much as they can with the roster they have. That being said…Firing Riley may not be the answer but Riley is responsible if his OC / DC continue to underperform. An upgrade -heck a fresh face even- is needed in both these positions. Langsdorf -if it truly was Langs making the decision- had a painfully predictable offense and did not use the talent around him. I’ll cite several examples: vs Sac St. the Beavs ran 1 RB…ONE RB a ridiculous 39 times vs an FBS school. vs ASU the decision was for the redshirt freshman, making his first road start in a hostile environment, to throw 60+ times…while their running game was averaging 5 yrds per carry. Dont even get me started on Banker, either. He is so inept in his defensive scheme that Chip Kelly had the “audacity” to go for it on 4th down 3 consecutive times the 1st half because he did not fear the Beavers. The Utah game was an epic failure of Banker. Starting a QB who couldnt hit the broad side of Reser with a canon, Banker elected to play his base nickel defensive scheme…as if the Utah QB was suddenly going to start airing it out. Dont get me started on the Cal game. In short, Riley has done alot for the program. It is evident by the solid recruiting class that recruits still believe in the program. However, changes are needed if this team continues to underperform offensively and defensively. I only hope that Riley can make a decision similar to what Mike Bellotti faced when he scrapped his entire offensive scheme to inject new life.
wcjr says:
Feb 3, 2012
Exceedingly well thought out Reno. Should make some sense even to the pollyannas.
oneoldbeav says:
Feb 3, 2012
Pos, I agree with parts of your post. However, when you say the critics here would just, “complain about how bad the players are” I have to wonder if you’ve been paying attention. Many times last season the paid coaches said the very same thing.
I’ll agree that MR does a pretty good job evaluating and developing talent but he often doesn’t put his best players on the field and is a disappointment in the area of motivation. Haven’t you noticed his teams coming out FLAT against foes like UCLA, WSU, SacSt? And yet they are fired up against SC.
An improved O Line (both by addition and subtraction) and Mannion’s experience will likely lead to a better record. I expect between 4 and 6 wins next year and am confident you’ll be happy with that.
Sadly, with some outside the box offensive thinking I do believe the record could be better.
OSUSupporter says:
Feb 3, 2012
Reno, I bet Riley would have a great record in the WAC too…playing pathetic creampuffs in league play allows you to get experience and confidence. When you are in the big leagues, every week is a tough game and injuries, lack of depth and youthfulness take hold and you have trouble. BSU is going to the Big East next year but I don’t see any competition there either. Is Peterson really that good? We won’t know because he’s too afraid to leave his little nest and spread his wings.
RenoNVbeavr says:
Feb 3, 2012
OSU – BSU played in the Moutain West last season and lost their lone game against a Top 25 team (TCU) by a field goal. Mountain West may not be a huge leap from the WAC but consider the wood BSU laid down on Georgia at the beginning of the season and Arizona State in the Bowl Game. They have beaten Oregon twice over the last 4 years and shellacked Oregon State in the not too distant past. True, their level of competition in conf play may not be stellar but give me an example of when they were outcoached/outplayed in non-conference? Not sure what you consider cream-puffs if BSU beats the majority of everyone they play.
OSUSupporter says:
Feb 3, 2012
Reno, the MWC is/was pathetic…imagine if OSU played Wyoming, UNLV, New Mexico, Colorado State, Nevada, Airforce, San Diego State and TCU for our conference games….do you see any losses there? Maybe TCU. Throw in Toledo, Tulsa, Fresno State and Nevada for non conference tilts (weak) and the only non-conference challenge was Georgia. Granted they did a great job against Georgia who did not play well early in the season, but that’s ONE game they had to get up for. Imagine if OSU had to open at Georgia and then had no opponent worth noting until TCU. TCU wasn’t that great last year either. ASU had a lame duck coach and had lost 5 of their past 6 games so I wouldn’t count that as any big deal at all.
So before we kowtow to BSU and their gaudy record, consider they are a good team playing bad teams and it’s been that way for a while. Do you seriously think their record would be so great if they played a Pac12 schedule? Or Big 12? Or Big 10? Think what they would do with an SEC schedule. That would be a test!
ObjCritic says:
Feb 2, 2012
Giving one back 96% of the carries again would be a mistake – too predictable. Riley and staff are so dedicated to scheme over available talent, to the detriment of the program, I’m going to quit attending games.
Distribute the carries amongst Brown (most), Woods, Agnew, Ward…
beavsssssss says:
Feb 3, 2012
I completely agree that halahuni was absolutely robbed. The kid was shocked the entire second half of the season that they wernt using him. I get building for the future and you have a crappy team so play young guys. But if I were him I’d have a tought time staying loyal to the ol riley crew for screwing me over my senior season when I was clearly one of the top 3 athletes/playmakers on the team. He was clearly a play maker and things happened when he was in the game. Yet they only used him on third and long, obvious passing downs. It seriously disgusted me. I wont be surprised if he is drafted in the 6th or 7th round. Kid has intangibles that alot of people at 260 pounds dont have. I wish him luck and luck to beaver fans out there. rileys football teams arent good unless they have 15 seniors on the field
maffu72 says:
Feb 5, 2012
Personally, I think Joe the Tank wasn’t really ever healthy this season… plus he had a tough time blocking. I think that has a lot to do with his diminshed production as a senior.
Beavs Believe says:
Feb 3, 2012
Pos and Maffu72 make reading this post fun. So tired of the “chicken little brigade.” Keep up the good work, fellas! lol
OS_Beaver says:
Feb 3, 2012
Oregon St. should add Tennis:
http://beaverbyte.com
RealBeav says:
Feb 3, 2012
These guys are typical of quite a few of the “fans” around this program. Everytime a play doesn’t work they know exactly what would have. Everytime a player doesn;t pan out they know exactly who should have been recruited or should be playing. Then they post 1000 word posts to bore to death everyone who doesn’t see things as they do.
Riley knows 100 times more about football than all the posters on here combined (myself included). If you “know-it-alls” gave as much money to the program as you do unsolicited advice, the program would be better off.
dunerat says:
Feb 3, 2012
OSUSupporter, you talk about Boise St. and the weak league schedule. What makes you think that OSU would win all those weak league games Boise plays. OSU lost to Sac.St. And Sac.St. had the better Linemen. Enough said Right? And I think Tennis would be a great choice. It would be a cheap sport. You could hire a cheap coach and nobody would care if they won. Thats much better than the Track Idea.
maffu72 says:
Feb 5, 2012
How many first-ever starters or first-time ever on a college football field kids took the field versus Sac State? Further, considering the train wreck that had happened in the first half, the young & inexperienced Beavers dominated the second half. Were it not for a true freshman fumble inside the ten, and a true freshman doink off the upright, the Beavers win by ten.
It’s football… stuff happens.
This is supposed to be fun, people… let the anger go.
orb says:
Feb 5, 2012
They should have won by and were favored by 30. The fumble and missed kick wouldn’t have mattered if they would have taken care of business aganist a team Portland State had no trouble with. In fact this was fun for me and very little anger was involved. I found myself laughing often at our ineptitude vs a totally inferior team.