Oregon State football: 3 position groups that will improve this spring

Oregon State’s football program will begin spring practices Tuesday as the Beavers prepare for the 2023 season.

Oregon State will have practices through March 18, before taking two weeks off for spring break.

The Beavers will resume practices in April and will conclude with the annual spring game April 22.

Oregon State is coming off a 10-3 season, highlighted by a rivalry win against Oregon and a Las Vegas Bowl win against Florida. The Beavers finished No. 17 in the AP poll, their highest finish since 2000.

Here is a look at three position groups that should improve this spring heading into the season.

1: Quarterbacks

The Beavers had a successful season despite below average play at quarterback.

Chance Nolan completed 59% of his passes for 939 yards, seven touchdowns and eight interceptions before suffering an injury against Utah.

Ben Gulbranson then took over and completed 62% of his passes for 1,455 yards, nine touchdowns and five interceptions.

Oregon State was able to overcome it by having the Pac-12’s best defense and fourth-best rushing offense.

This coming season, expect the Beavers to have better quarterback play with the additions of Clemson transfer DJ Uiagalelei and freshman Aidan Chiles.

Uiagalelei completed 62% of his passes for 2,521 yards, 22 touchdowns and seven interceptions for the Tigers against Power 5 competition.

There will be competition at quarterback this offseason, but given his college experience, Uiagalelei is the clear favorite to be the Beavers’ starting quarterback.

In addition, Oregon State brought in Chiles with the 2023 recruiting class.

Chiles, a four-star recruit, played high school football in highly competitive Southern California.

As a senior, Chiles completed 73% of his passes for 3,350 yards, 38 touchdowns and five interceptions.

Chiles will no doubt increase the competition among quarterbacks this offseason.

That competition will only help the Beavers’ quarterback play on the field in the fall.

2: Defensive line 

The Oregon State defensive line wasn’t terrible in 2022.

The Beavers, after all, led the Pac-12 in rushing defense, total defense and scoring defense.

The line’s job is to eat blocks and be disruptive to allow the linebackers and defensive backs to make plays.

That said, Oregon State could be more disruptive, which would create more pressure on the opponents’ quarterbacks.

Nobody on the Beavers had more than three sacks, and the big reason for Oregon State having the conference’s third-best passing defense was the defensive backfield.

Sione Lolohea was the leading tackler on the Beavers’ defensive line, with 33. He was 10th overall on the team. James Rawls and Simon Sandberg had 30 and 17 tackles, and the three linemen combined for 3.5 sacks. They also forced three fumbles combined.

Lolohea and Rawls return this season, and they are coming off a strong finish, combining for 14 tackles and two sacks in the wins against Oregon and Florida.

The expectation is that both players will take a step forward.

Also, help is on the way with incoming freshman Kelze Howard, a four-star defensive lineman.

Howard was a big-time disrupter during his senior season at Spring Valley High School in Las Vegas. Howard had 68 tackles, 14 sacks, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.

3: Running backs

Damien Martinez had a strong season for Oregon State in 2022, but he has so much room to grow.

Martinez was eased into the season as a freshman.

In the first six games of the season, Martinez had 228 yards and two touchdowns. In the final seven games, he had 754 yards and five touchdowns.

He seems primed to have a monster season in 2023, especially with better quarterback play.

With Uiagalelei at quarterback, defenses will need to respect the Beavers’ passing game more than they did with Nolan or Gulbranson behind center last season.

Jam Griffin had a strong season as well, rushing for 488 yards and four touchdowns. That was more production than he had in three seasons at Georgia Tech (377 yards, two touchdowns). He should improve in his second season in the program.

Deshaun Fenwick had 553 yards and seven touchdowns to round out the three-headed beast.

Statesman Journal reporter Pete Martini covers college and high school sports. He can be reached at pmartini@StatesmanJournal.com.

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Oregon State football: 3 position groups that will improve this spring