Markus Wheaton on the move.
ESPN.com’s Ted Miller has been rating his top position groups of the Pacific-12 Conference lately. He just named the WR group for Oregon State as his top group.
That’s hard to argue with the talent of the of Markus Wheaton, Brandin Cooks and Jordan Bishop (when healthy). And the depth of Geno Munoz and Obum Gwacham, with many others in the wings, is strong.
However, I think the DBs are a strong rival as a position group.
There are returning starters in CB Jordan Poyer, who will be an NFL player in a year, CB Rashaad Reynolds, who could be an NFL player in two years, and S Anthony Watkins.
Poyer is a play-maker, Watkins was last year’s top tackler and Reynolds has a huge upside.
The other S is Ryan Murphy who played well last year off the bench and has experience. He also has a knack for the INT.
Behind them is a good group. CBs Sean Murphy, Keynan Parker and Malcolm Marable are athletic and seasoned special teams guys.
S Tyrequek Zimmerman will be a good one, and S Peter Ashton is coming along.
Both positions in the backfield will have a flood of talented recruits come in, in the fall.
So, I’d consider the WRs and the DBs the top position group for the Beavers.
13 comments
bone says:
Jun 12, 2012
Not only are they are most talented group, but they are our deepest group. I really liked what I saw from Cooks and Obum during the couple practices I went to during the spring.
bone says:
Jun 12, 2012
our*
dili says:
Jun 12, 2012
It will be important for the success of these youngsters for them to be incorporatred into the play callling scheme. Last year things deteriorated to the point that few plays were called for for our excellent tight end and only a few receivers (i.e. Wheaton) were used. This is not a knock on Marcus at all, it is just a suggestioin to de-pridictable our offensive play calling and open things up to use the talents of these many potential stars. Also, I urge the design of a few plays for our quarterback to run to keep defenses off balance. I realize Mannion is a drop back qb but none of the top teams last year succeded without at least the threat of a running qb. Finally, I must say that as of today it appears we are yet to get a recruit verbal and this is a reflection of the disrespect our program has around the pac-12.
Tagup says:
Jun 12, 2012
Really?…disrespect?…last year we had one of the better classes in quite a while and we had only 2 commits as of this date…Dustin Stanton committed 5/4/11 and Malik Gilmore on 6/10/11. We had 3 others commit in June..Gavin Andrews (6/18), Isacc Seumalo(6/27) and Brent Vanderveen(6/21)…I think there is still some time before we need to panic!
Beavs Believe says:
Jun 13, 2012
Honestly, we don’t have a running quarterback, and I hope we never do. That’s begging to watch your season go down the tank with one injury. (See Oregon).
WheresTheOline says:
Jun 12, 2012
And with no OLine Mannion has zero time to throw.
And the RB’s get hit 3 yards deep behind their line.
Ho Hum..
Same old Beavers with the same old recruiting.
Yawn.
bone says:
Jun 12, 2012
That will be the biggest factor. How quickly will this o-line gel, on paper there is some talent coming in at the O-line.
So.Or.Aaron says:
Jun 13, 2012
“Gell”. There’s that word again being used in a manner that doesn’t make any sense at all to me. Bad talent doesn’t magically amalgamate into something greater than the available talent. I’m not saying there isn’t talent, but without it, the word “gell” doesn’t make any sense.
(I find this concept of lesser talent magically “gelling” insulting to talented linemen and lineman corps)
bendbeaver says:
Jun 13, 2012
I believe it’s ‘jell’, and a talented o-line that hasn’t jelled is going to be less productive than one of lesser talent that has jelled. I’m not sure what you’re missing.
Pos0x45 says:
Jun 13, 2012
So, let me see if I get this right… gel is being used inappropriately because without talent, it has no meaning but you’re not saying there’s no talent but you’re saying that bone’s use of the word doesn’t make sense because there’s no talent? How does that make any sense?
As far as talent level of individuals vs sum of the whole, the sum turns out to be greater than the individuals if they learn to work together. This is what is meant by ‘gel.’ This is valid for any level of talent as long as they are able to learn to work together.
Now, if you want to complain about the O-line, I concur, they were pretty awful last year. However, this has been addressed through recruiting. The talent level of the players in general has taken a big boost. Now, it’s a matter of how fast they can ‘gel.’ I am very optimistic. Consider how well Mannion did last year in spite of no running game, little pass protection, and being thrown into the fire the first game of the season. If the line is even a little better (and I think it will be much improved), Beavers will surprise everyone this year, especially when they win the civil war.
bone says:
Jun 13, 2012
I think you may be underestimating teamwork and everyone being on the same page (especially on the o-line) in the game of football.
Beavrob says:
Jun 13, 2012
Cliff, didn’t Keynan Parker get drafted by the CFL? Is he eligible to play this year if he got drafted?
Cliff Kirkpatrick says:
Jun 13, 2012
the CFL drafts guys after their junior years and retains rights to them for a while.
In theory, Parker would go pro in the NFL. However, if that doesn’t work out, he has the CFL to fall back on .