The class was small by necessity,
but I get the sense that more than any other year during the Mike Riley regime,
the percentage of those who eventually pay off on the field will be large.
OSU coaches look for great
talent, but also kids who fit the program, and this year in particular, for
needs on the defensive side. We won't know for two or three years, but it seems
they accomplished their goals, despite some disappointments on signing day.
C Roman
Sapolu gets overlooked because he committed so early, but with his great
bloodlines, he could emerge under the tutelage of offensive line coach Mike
Cavanaugh to be something special.
Defensive ends Scott
Critchton and Dominic Glover are a pair of D-ends
who seem like can't-miss guys. The Oakland pair, S Ryan Murphy and
DT Fred Thompson, will make its presence felt before too long,
I would think.
Linebacker Shaydon
Akuna was a great get, and rugby player Mana Tuivailata
a sleeper with as much upside as anyone.
QB Sean
Mannion could make the biggest impact if he develops the way the coaches
envision. If he's a bigger version of Matt Moore
— Mannion's throwing motions remind them of the ex-Beaver great — the Beavers
got a winner.
Mike Riley
would love to have scouting services rate his recruiting classes highly, but
he'll never lose a minute of sleep over it. The Beavers recruit good players
and, oftentimes, develop them into great ones.
There's a lot to be said
for that.
| Cliff
Kirkpatrick, Reporter for The Gazette Times
Read Kirkpatrick's blog at GazetteTimes.com |
The Beavers needed to improved
their defensive line for next season and the future, and they did that with
this recruiting class. Beyond that they added depth for the long-run with defense
as a priority.
Defensive tackle Thomas
Molesi can be another Stephen Paea
by the time he's done at OSU. He appears to be a person who can disrupt every
play.
People will notice quarterback
Sean Mannion because of his strong arm and intelligence. He
should be able to handle the complex offense quickly. I can see him as future
star.
Some of the guys are projects
such as tight end Connor Hamlett or defensive
end Mana Tuivailala, but the Beavers get the
most out of these athletes. Coach Mike Riley described all these guys as good
fits to what the Beavers do.
That's key for anyone to
make an impact on any program.
| Brandon
Huffman, Scout.com West Recruiting Analyst |
It wasn't the biggest class,
but it doesn't need to be. No class will be coached up in the Pac-10 better
than an Oregon State class.
While there was no late
commitment from an elite guy like Michael Philipp
a year ago, the Beavers did most of their heavy lifting in the spring and summer,
and kept them all on board.
QB Sean Mannion
may have been the best quarterback in Northern California and he's a right-handed
Sean Canfield. He'll be a good one down the
line for Oregon State.
DT Thomas Molesi
has done nothing but end every season in high school with a win, winning two
state titles and three section titles, and he'll bring that mentality to Corvallis.
C Roman Sapolu has
seen his dad, Jesse's, Super Bowl rings. He'd like to match those with a Rose
Bowl ring and he'll bring some nasty to the trenches.
Make no mistake, this class
will undoubtedly outplay their rankings, thanks to Mike Riley
and Co.
| Chad
Luther, Writer for BeaverFootball.com |
In terms of ranking, the
2010 Oregon State class was decidedly underwhelming -- another 50-ish ranked recruiting
class. But rankings are not just subjective,
they also can be misleading.
For one, Scout and others don't grade solely on average stars per recruit. Instead, they assess
a “total score” based on points accumulated. Theoretically an uber-small
class of 5-star recruits would rate the same as 25 two-star recruits.
When the NFL grades a draft,
they base it on how well the team filled their needs in that draft. And in that
respect, the Beavers scored big. They needed d-Line help and despite the Owa
disappointment on LOI day, OSU landed a coveted 2-gap defensive tackle in Big
Fred Thompson, immediate help at DE with JC transfer Dominic Glover,
a can’t miss high-motor DT in Thomas Molesi, and a prep
DE in Scott Crichton who the coaches think will play early. And again the Beavers
picked up OSU-prototype lightening-fast nasty LB’s in Michael
Bibbee and the highly-acclaimed Shaydon Akuna. And then Mana
Tuivailala is another raw Stephen Paea type of project
who will grayshirt and has tremendous potential.
One area where the Beavers
needed some help was at running back and while Marable was a good get, the
Beavers again just missed out on 4-star tailback and legacy Gio Bernard. With
LOI day over, it would seem that the Beavers would have to make running
back a big priority in 2011, right?
It would seem that way –
but in another post-signing day surprise, Oregon State offered a grayshirt ride
to Terron Ward, who was, surprisingly, virtually
unrecruited. Ward was the star on an excellent De La Salle squad. He has excellent bloodlines, his father played
in the NFL, and his brother was hard hitting Oregon Duck safety
TJ Ward. The younger Ward's production was stellar this season, rushing for over 2000
yards and nearly 30 touchdowns in 2009.
Ward is really the icing
on the cake for an excellent but smallish class – which may very well
end up being OSU’s best class in the last 4-5 years, despite its’
small size.
| Dan
Norz, Associate Editor of BeaverFootball.com |
It's laborious to say this
every year, but forget about the rankings. Scout.com ranks Oregon State's class
#64 in the nation and dead last in the Pac-10 - that's got to be a joke. No
matter.
The staff did a tremendous
job filling needs on the defensive line signing five recruits with four of them
having a legit shot at playing early.
QB Sean Mannion
may be the steal of the class after blowing up his senior year. The same goes
for DT Thomas Molesi who absolutely dominated for Oceanside.
Throw in super athletes
Ryan Murphy and Shaydon Akuna for versatility
along with the classic under recruited Oregonians in Michael
Bibbee and Will Storey, who could turn
into local stars, and a handful of grayshirts and the Beavers have already stocked
the cupboards for years to come.
It's good to be a Beaver
- even if the rankings don't reflect it.
| Barry
Bolton, Executive Editor of BeaverFootball.com |
It’s a class that’s big
on quality if not quantity -- the Beavs signed 10 three-star athletes, that's as many as did Cal. With less than 25 rides to give this class, (17 including grayshirts) the
Beavs needed to address their needs wisely and the view from here is they did just that.
The defensive front seven
was the big need and OSU brought in five d-linemen and three linebackers,
nearly half the class is concentrated there.
DE Scott
Crichton is my pick for the most underrated recruit of the class, and there were many to choose from. He and DT Thomas Molesi will be counted upon to provide
a very solid outside-inside on the d-line in the years to come. Indeed, both of those
guys along with Fred Thompson and Shaydon
Akuna have the chance to be special in the Pac-10.
DE Dominic
Glover will be counted on to provide an immediate impact this coming year.
And then you look at some of the other guys, like Ryan
Murphy, he has a chance to develop into a special player in the secondary over his career -- he was a big-time playmaker this past season.
The quarterback, Sean
Mannion, is arguably the best to come out of Northern California this year
and fits smartly what Mike Riley likes to do
offensively.
As for OSU's final recruiting ranking, the Beavs with only 17 total signees were always going to be ranked last in the Pac-10. But here's the thing about that -- Oregon State out on the field has been confounding the recruiting rankings several years running, with Top 25 and upper Pac-10 tier finishes. This class provides plenty of early indication they're ready to continue that string.