Oregon State Football: It’s not a surprise, but Beavers will be bad in 2018

Offense

Coach Smith has brought in a very experienced staff including offensive coordinator Brian Lindgren and Assistant Head Coach and tight ends coach Mike Riley (yes, that same Mike Riley). At Washington, Smith’s final offense ranked 18th per the S&P+ with quarterback Jake Browning behind center.

The OSU offensive staff will need to pick a quarterback with the loss of Darrell Garretson to graduation and with Jake Luton bouncing back from a spinal injury. Luton, a former Idaho and Ventura College (JUCO) quarterback started four games before the injury. The 6-foot-7, 235-pound kid from Washington has accuracy and arm strength and is expected to be healthy for 2018. Luton finished 2017 with over 800 passing yards and four touchdowns, but did throw four interceptions.

Also up for the quarterback job are Conor Blount and Jack Colletto. Blount will be classified as a redshirt sophomore while Colletto is a three-star JUCO prospect from Arizona Western. If any staff is ready to find a quarterback it’s the trio of Smith, Lindgren and Riley.

Supporting Cast

The Beavers have to pick a quarterback and get him the first team reps for stability and leadership’s sake. But they also have to replace Ryan Nall and Thomas Tyner from the backfield. Nall departed early for the NFL only to go undrafted and Tyner graduated. Nall took 24 career rushing touchdowns with him to the Chicago Bears and Tyner, who unretired to play for the Beavers, scored three times a year ago. However OSU does have Artavis Pierce back who averaged 4.8 yards per carry in 2017.

The Beavers return nine of ten offensive linemen from their two-deep depth chart including left tackle Blake Brandel who is an All-Pac-12 watch list type of player. Tight end Noah Togiai averaged 13.6 yards per catch and hauled in two touchdowns for a dismal OSU passing attack. Timmy Hernandez also returns at wide receiver. Hernandez caught 30 passes for 357 yards and three touchdowns a year ago.