A Look Ahead: The Oregon State Defense

As promised, I will continue my pre-fall camp analysis with the Beavers’ defense. While many will say next season looks grim, the cupboard isn’t totally bare for Mark Banker and the Beaver D. While we may not have the speed on the defensive line like we had last year, this is still going to be one of the fastest all-around defenses since the 2000 season. While inexperienced, there is a lot of potential here.

Defensive End: Replacing the best DE tandem Oregon State has ever seen (a combined 22 sacks between Slade Norris and Victor Butler) will be very difficult to do, however not impossible. I’m telling you, the cupboard is by no means bare. Ben Terry was the first man off the bench last year and is in the same mold as Victor Butler at 6-3 and 240 lbs. According to OSU, he also possesses similar speed (4.6 forty range) and look for him to wreck havoc on passers next season. On the other side will be Kevin Frahm from Central Catholic High School in Portland. While not as fast as Terry, he has good size (6-2, 255lbs) and great strength. We’ll see if his dominance on the scout team will translate into on-field production next year. He has been known as one of the hardest workers in the weight room.

OSU, as of recent, has been known to get production by committee on the defensive line, sometimes rotating as many as eleven guys per game last season. Another name to look for at the DE spot this spring is Taylor Henry, who seemed unstoppable in the spring game. He’s undersized at 6-2, 222 lbs. but is the fastest defensive lineman on the team. He even had an interception (with a very nice return) in the spring game. Look for him to contribute significant minutes and will most likely be used as the third down pass rusher like Victor Butler was in his first year.

Matt LaGrone, a junior-to-be transfer from the University of Nevada-Reno, is also going to be in the mix. While most probably haven’t heard of him, especially because he sat out spring with an injury, his physical attributes have the coaches excited. He’s 6-6 and 240 lbs. and supposedly very athletic (played basketball for the Wolfpack). His brother Josh is a safety for the team. While he has no game experience, coaches say he’s a tear on the field for the scout team. This could be the year he breaks out and look for him to come out of nowhere. He’ll likely be used in third down situations as well.

Finally, Gabe Miller, the converted tight end, made his move this spring. Starting out last on the depth chart, by spring’s end he was listed number two behind Ben Terry. Coming out of high school, many coaches wanted him on the defensive side of the ball (Oregon’s Defensive Player of the Year his senior year at Lake Oswego) but Riley thought he’d best be used at tight end. He’s got the size and speed OSU looks for in their DE’s at 6-3 235 lbs. We’ll see how much he’ll contribute this year at his new position but the potential is there.

Defensive Tackle: OSU possesses one of the best, if not the best, defensive tackles in the conference in Stephen Paea. Coming out of nowhere last year, he wrecked havoc on opposing quarterbacks (five sacks his first year starting) and spent most of his time in the opponent’s backfield. While he may not get five sacks this year because teams will start to key on him more, this junior-to-be will plug the gaps (yes, gaps not gap) that the OSU defensive scheme requires.

After Paea, the DT position will be handled by committee. There are a lot of options that DL coach Joe Seumalo could use. Last year, former walk-on Brennan Olander started most of the games. He may be used again this year but his production just wasn’t there (five total tackles last year, no sacks). Mitch Hunt is the slated starter at the other DT position right now but in my opinion look for Sioeli Nau to grab the other spot. He attended the same junior college as Paea (Snow College in Ephram, Utah) and he possesses great size (6-2 312 lbs.) and excellent strength like Paea. While he’s not as fast as Paea, he’s still very aggressive and will certainly plug gaps on the line. Other names that may be called throughout the year will be Jesse Fifita (6-1 276 lbs.), a converted defensive end, and Latu Moala (6-1 294 lbs.). All have at least one year of playing experience under their belts.

Linebackers: If there’s one bright spot on the OSU defense for next season it will be at linebacker. Based on experience and athleticism, there’s no doubt in my mind (and the mind’s of analysts who make a lot more money than I do) that OSU will have the best linebacking corp. in the Pac-10 conference. Yes, USC will have a ridiculous set of their own thanks to their consistent 5-star talent, but based off of experience one has to give the slight edge to the Beavers. Arguably the best returning linebacker of the Pac-10 in Keaton Kristick will man one of the outside spots. He’s able to play all linebacker positions so look for Banker to move him around to create mismatches.

On the other side, both Keith Pankey and Dwight Roberson will share the “starting” spot. Pankey, at 6-0 208 lbs., is the speed backer while Roberson, at 6-0 235 lbs., is the power backer. My personal opinion is to play Roberson more. Pankey wasn’t big enough to get off blocks, particularly on plays like inside zone running plays, and often got jammed. In the same amount of playing time last season (Pankey actually got a little bit more) Roberson recorded 61 tackles and 2 sacks while Pankey accounted for 43 tackles and 1 sack. Something else to keep in mind is Roberson also had 7.5 tackles for loss. While I say Pankey is the linebacker with speed, Roberson also possesses great speed, agility, and quickness and with his size and strength, in my opinion, he is better suited to Banker’s system.

Finally, at the MLB position will be a new face: David Pa’aluhi III. He’ll be replacing Bryant Cornell (thankfully) and be using his 5-11 225 lbs. frame to man the middle. He’s certainly got the size and strength but what most people may not know is that he’s the fastest linebacker on the team as well. According to Riley and company, Pa’aluhi ran the forty-yard dash this spring at 4.45. Once again, we’ll see if this potential turns into production but with the experience on either side of Pa’aluhi, look for him to have a very solid year. His role last year was the blitzing MLB last year in the nickel packages.

Cornerback: Replacing current NFL players Keenan Lewis and Brandon Hughes will not be an easy task, especially when taking into consideration the style of defense Mark Banker runs. With the cornerbacks often up at the line of scrimmage jamming the receivers, they are often left on an island. If they’re inexperienced, they often struggle (see the 2005 season). While many will reference this, keep in mind the two players replacing Lewis and Hughes will not be freshmen and do have quite a bit of playing time between them unlike the 2005 situation.

The number one cornerback for next year will be senior-to-be Tim Clark. His claim to fame is probably the 2007 game at Cal when he held DeSean Jackson to four receptions for five yards. Keep in mind, this was no fluke. The previous week Jackson had 11 receptions for 161 yards and 2 touchdowns against Oregon. Clark didn’t have as productive year last year as 2007 (many coaches thought he didn’t try as hard because he knew he wasn’t starting) but this past spring he was the best cornerback on the field. He’ll take the reigns as number one and will be looked upon to have a solid senior season against each team’s number one wide receiver.

The other cornerback spot will be manned by either senior Patrick Henderson or junior James Dockery. Many people are throwing sophomore and special teams standout Brandon Hardin’s name in the mix but in my opinion Riley and Banker won’t rotate more than three guys at CB this coming season. Look for the two seniors to be the starters and receive most of the playing time. Patrick Henderson is somewhat small for a CB (listed at 5-10 185, probably closer to 5-9 or 5-8) but very fast. He’s very physical and strong and fits the press cornerback mold that Banker looks for. With his past experience and Dockery’s injury last year that put him out for the season, I say Henderson will get the nod to take over the other CB position. While replacing two starting cornerbacks is never a good thing on paper, the likes are the Beavers will be replacing them with two seniors, both with significant playing time. While magazines and analysts will say the cornerback spot is a big weakness for this Beaver defense, I say it may not be as bad as people think.

Safety: I guarantee safety will be the weakest part of the Beaver D next year. They are both young and inexperienced. One slated starter will be Suaesi Tuimaunei and he will be looked at as the one to replace Al Afalava. He struggled mightily to get off blocks last year in run support (remember Stanford?) and his pass defense was suspect at times. Coaches have been trying to get him more aggressive and to gain confidence. Perhaps a year under his belt will help these because the Beavers will be leaning on him heavily as the leader of the safeties.

The other safety position will be manned either by Lance Mitchell (the slated starter coming out of spring camp) or Cameron Collins. They battled it out closely last spring and fall looks to be no different. Collins has the size (6-2, 215 lbs) but Mitchell seemed to be more of the playmaker. Coaches have said despite Collins size, he really needs to get more aggressive in order for him to fit in with how OSU likes to use their safeties, which is in heavy run support (Greg Laybourn was the team’s leading tackler last year with 113) and press coverage just like their cornerbacks. While Laybourn was effective against the run, he was very suspect against the pass and OSU would certainly like to see someone who has the ability to cover as well as support the linebackers in running situations.

Two other players, redshirt freshmen Josh LaGrone and Anthony Watkins, will push the other safeties for playing time but will most likely fight for the back up spots and will be large contributors on special teams.

Many publications and analysts will choose the Beavers’ defense as a significant weak spot. While they may be somewhat inexperienced, they have the athleticism and speed at all positions that hasn’t been seen since the 2000 season. No, I’m not saying this Beaver D will be as good as 2000’s but athletically they have the same potential. We’ll see if that potential can turn into on-the-field production for the 2009 season.

Finally, one major thing to keep in mind is the schedule. For the first time in a while, the Beavers have a chance to start fast. Their defense will have no LSU’s or Penn State’s or Utah’s to go to early in their schedule and that will allow them to mesh and gel without those rude awakenings (although Stanford didn’t exactly scream hard matchup last year either). If the Beavers can start off with a winning record in their first five games it should instill some confidence in them as opposed to playing catch up like they’ve been forced to do in the past.

If they can get some initial confidence going while the team works out its early season kinks (and still wins), this could be a special year for Beaver football. Potentially, the Beavers could be 6-0 going into the game at USC with the first six games being Portland St. at home, at UNLV, Cincinnati at home, Arizona at home, at Arizona State, and the revenge game against Stanford at home.