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| Beavs ink 30 players | ||||
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Just before 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday the fax machine cooled down allowing the Oregon State coaches to momentarily relax. Despite four verbals changing their minds in the past week, there were no major surprises on signing day as the Beavers inked three junior college recruits and 23 high school players. | |||
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Add the four JC recruits that signed in December and the 2006 recruiting class balloons to 30 players. The third largest recruiting class in the nation addresses immediate issues on defense while building long term depth on both sides of the ball. "We hit some areas that are big for us as far as immediate needs," Riley said. "and then we’ve got some great guys long-term development possibilities that are exciting." One of the primary needs was on the defensive line where the current ends on the team struggled to pressure the quarterback. The team also lost their two stalwarts in the middle in Sir Henry Anderson and Alvin Smith. Gerard Lee, Keith Robertson, Dorian Smith all will compete immediately for playing time with many expecting Lee and Smith to take over starting positions. Cornerback Coye Francies is also expected to compete for a starting spot. The strongest area of the '06 class is the linebacking group that is ranked the 11th best in the nation by Scout.com. Joey LaRocque and Danzell Issac are expected to take over starting spots and provide leadership on and off the field while a number of the prep linebackers could try their hand on the defensive line in the future. "We’ve added basically Gerard Lee as a defensive tackle there that I think can impact that position. I think that Dorian Smith and Keith Robertson will add to the defensive end picture," Riley said. "and I think that Danzel Issac and Joey LaRocque will impact immediately that linebacker position. "And then we’ve got some more linebackers that will be part of what I think will be continued to be called Linebacker U that will add to that picture there." Offensively, the Beavers loaded up on tight ends with Gabe Miller, Joe Halahuni, John Reese, and Howard Croom all slated to compete for playing time. With two seniors at tight end, Miller has an excellent shot at playing early along with another one of the high school tight ends. Running back Clinton Polk will finally arrive in Corvallis and is expected to play a significant role in the offense. "We’re looking at a guy like Gabe Miller who’s a very big recruit for us because we’re looking at a guy like that physically," Riley said. "We have some other good guys in that position to go with it that I feel great about." The offensive line added four for the future in Ryan Pohl, Mau Nomani, Alex Linnenkohl and Timi Oshinowo. All of them love to hit and all of them love Mike Cavanaugh. Athletes James Dockery and Casey Kjos provide the coaches with great flexibility and could end up on either side of the ball. The Beavers also added Kyle Loomis who Riley calls, "the best (prep) punter on the west coast." Nine home town states are represented with a fifth of the recruits hailing from Hawaii. Recent successes at OSU by Jeremy Perry and Al Afalava, both who played high school ball in Hawaii, combined with connections to Hawaii by the coaching staff keeps the pipeline from the islands strong. "Mark Banker has done a really good job at restoring what has been a great tradition at Oregon State with players from Hawaii," Riley said. "We’ve got a great history there. And Mark started out really as the main guy in getting that thing going again. That’s the kind of deal that as you get one, you’ve got the chance to get another one. And we’ve had them come over and have success." Riley also praised Mike Cavanaugh's work in Arizona. "I’m excited about the work that Mike Cavanaugh did in Arizona," Riley said. "You’ll see a number of guys from Arizona that are on our list (Issac, Polk, Lee, Hunt, Garer). And that’s a state that we all know is growing. They have more and more kids down there that are playing. So the more that we can get in and establish something there, the more it will help in the future, too." As for those who are going to redshirt and those who are going to not redshirt, many of those decisions are still up in the air. "It goes without saying that Gabe [Miller] has a very good opportunity [to not redshirt], and somebody else will also surface as a freshman that will be hard to redshirt," Riley said. "And it could be any one of the number of those guys, but I don’t want to leave anybody out because there are some solid players there that will come into camp and be physically ready to go." Spring practice kicks off in just a couple of months on April 3. Stay tuned to BeaverFootball.com for more information and if have questions, feel free to stop by the message boards. If you have a premium account visit the message board throughout the week as we post the 2006 case files (click here for example) on each recruit. Also, check out the premium board for extensive news and notes from OrangeAttack about the recruiting dinner.
The 2006 Recruiting Class Junior College (7)
Hometown States (9)
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