How does Oregon State’s tight end room stack up post-spring…
Following the offseason departure of Jack Velling to the transfer portal, this room was going to look noticeably different in spring football.
Fresh off his first season with the Beavers, Jermaine Terry looks to be the leader in the clubhouse as he was routinely the first TE out there during spring. While he only had six catches for 54 yards and a score last season, he was the Beavers’ second TE behind Velling which often meant he had to block more routinely.
The room should be in decent shape if Terry can expand his numbers with a more defined role. The room’s outlook and production becomes a bit murkier if he cannot become a reliable target.
Bryce Caufield, Gabe Milbourn, Cooper Jensen, and Carter Neuman were the other participants in the room this spring, and each had moments of flashing potential. Jensen and Milbourn were limited at different points of spring, and Caufield was the most consistent of the group.
Speaking of Caufield, the Beavers have to feel really good about his development as he was rewarded with a scholarship post-spring.
It seems like with the offensive scheme changes, and moving to more of a spread system under new offensive coordinator Ryan Gunderson, the TEs will still be utilized a good bit.
The name of the game with this new scheme is to get the ball out quickly, and we saw each of the quarterbacks in the rotation look to the TE position for quick outs, inside screens, and crossing patterns.
While the Beavers lost Neuman to the transfer portal post-spring, they were able to add local product and Cal transfer Andy Alfieri to the mix. Alfieri didn’t show much during his time at Cal, but is athletic and has good size to be a strong blocking H-Back of sorts potentially.
The Beavers could also look to add more depth and talent to the room via the transfer portal, but they’re currently up against the limit scholarship-wise, so additional depth would come at the cost of attrition.
Compared to past seasons of Luke Musgrave and Velling, on the surface this looks like a group that is perhaps a bit weaker this season, However, I think the tweaks to the offense will help the Beavers maximize the potential of this group.
