BeaversEdge’s Ryan Harlan takes a closer look at the EDGE rushers, a secondary standout,
Oregon State has recently had a bevy of treasures at the edge rusher position, with notable names like Andrew Chatfield, John McCartan, Cory Stover, and Nikko Taylor all donning the orange and black in their careers.
However, with three of those guys graduating after 2023, the 2024 campaign was a real struggle for the Beavers in rushing the passer. They ranked dead last (133rd) in college football with just seven sacks on the season, a far cry from 2023, when the Beavers averaged 2.8 per game, good for 14th-best in the country.
So, how do the Beavers ultimately get back to that level of defense? Transfer portal additions, returning guys, and internal growth should fuel a much better product in 2025.
The Beavers added to that room this offseason with the additions of Nebraska transfer Kai Wallin and Southern Utah’s Walker Harris from the transfer portal, along with Taylor returning for an extra season thanks to the recent JUCO ruling.
While the sack numbers weren’t good last season, Taylor was easily the Beavers’ most effective pass-rusher, so keeping him with the new additions is like a bevy of riches.
What sold both Wallin and Harris on coming to Corvallis? As Harris mentioned, the perfect place to play outside linebacker is in head coach Trent Bray’s defensive scheme.
“I think this is the perfect edge-setting defense.” Harris said, “If you want to play edge, come to Oregon State; it’s the place to be.”
Wallin also mentioned that the environment around Corvallis and Oregon State was another factor in his decision to play for the Beavers ahead of the 2025 season.
“I visited Corvallis coming out of JUCO, when Bray was the DC and had a good feel for the town,” Wallin said “So having those ties within the coaching staff was big and when I came on my visit he (Bray) was the head coach primarily, but week one or two when the announcement was made about him switching to DC, I lit up.”
With head coach Trent Bray moving back to the defense this offseason, you know there’s some pressure to perform, as Bray’s defenses were a massive part of why the Beavers got back to their winning ways in recent seasons.
Wallin mentioned that it wasn’t just him who was excited about the move of Bray taking over defensive coordinator responsibilities, but also players on the roster who Bray coached in 2022 and 2023 on the defensive side of the ball.
Players and coaches have noted there’s a sense of urgency involved with Bray moving back over to the defense this season compared to last spring. The mindset of the defense under Bray is returning to being a pressure-oriented attacking defense.
“It’s a little bit different having Bray in the room,” defensive backs coach Rod Chance said. “It increases the sense of urgency in the room, and makes me up my game when the head man is in there with you every single day. I think it’s been great for both the offense and defense.”
More specifically, what makes a defense helmed by Bray successful is its ability to rush the passer and its depth at the outside linebacker spot. The Beavers missed the mark last year, but feel much better about where it will be in 2025.
“I think the defense is super versatile and the multiplicity of how we can use all the guys in our room,” Wallin said. “We have our base and pass down stuff, but we have multiple positions in our room based on the call or scheme we’re running. Being able to plug and play guys, to find the best matchup.”
Harris mentioned that rushing the passer is one piece of the puzzle in the success that the defense can have this season.
“Obviously that’s emphasized; there’s more than one part of playing edge.” Harris said, “but we’re really emphasizing rushing the passer this spring.”
Both Wallin and Harris have felt like their room have made big strides this spring, including being able to get after the quarterback in practice but also plenty of things to improve and work on ahead of fall camp despite their strong start.
“We look good, obviously there’s daily improvement we have to do, but I think we’re progressing at the right pace,” Harris said on the performance of the outside linebacker room in spring practices. “I feel like we’re only going up from here.”