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Day 1 Fall Camp / Offensive Line

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Some notes from Eggers

Issac clearly a bonehead, who has now put the team in jeopardy:

“The healing had stopped and (the break) had gotten a little worse,” the son of OSU defensive line coach Joe Seumalo says. “My fault, I think. I was so eager to get back quickly, I was doing a little too much on it.”

And more:

Worst-case scenario would be that the healing process is so slow, Seumalo chooses to redshirt.

“That possibility has crossed my mind, but I’ll cross that bridge if it comes,” he said. “I don’t really want to think of that right now.”

What an idiot “doing too much” on it…

And Riley on the line:

“It’s not that great right now,” Riley says. “I still have high hopes that by the time the season gets rolling, or shortly into it, that we’ll be good up front with a solid five starters, and then have the best depth we’ve had in a long time. This picture can change with the good health of Isaac and Grant.

Hope is not a strategy.

Bad planning by the coaches coupled with poor decisions by individuals make the odds of this all coming together miniscule.

This looks like yet another disaster for OSU’s offensive line. They have not been serviceable since the pre-Remmer line (2006/7?). I don’t know about you guys, but reading that report does not get me excited.

 

 

123 COMMENTS

  1. Agreed. Same old BS every year. We’ll tout our best case scenario, but never see it come remotely close to a reality. I’m very concerned when one of our most experienced starters (Harlow) got abused repeatedly last year and 2 of the other guys arent even close to practicing as a squad. by the time they get healthy, another 2 guys will be injured or get mono, or drop football to pursue drama.

    • Yeah at this point we’re left praying for a miracle season without any reason to actually believe it’s possible, never mind probable. Riley seems to favor this business model, or at best does not know how to escape getting trapped into it (Sisyphus complex?). We need a new, yearly nickname for his haphazard planning/wing it as you go along mentality along with him rolling this proverbial bolder every year. I mean for now I will call him Coach Sisyphus but I am open to suggestions.

  2. I think you’re being too hard on Isaac Angry. It’s human nature to want to get back to doing the things you did before your injury… especially a young, inexperienced kid. Recovering from a broken bone is significant. This setback doesn’t surprise me, and never does with any athlete trying to recover. The OSU staff should’ve, and probably did, advise him on recommended activities but who knows if he stuck to it or not.

  3. Has anyone else been ticked off with the coaching staff about how we currently have no receivers with any relevant game experience. This should be a no brainer that you rotate in receivers at different levels to get them game experience, especially if there is a comfortable lead. This coaching staff has repeatedly failed at long term planning. Even their recruiting strategy doesn’t reflect getting a good balance of players in all different position groups. We are always in desperate straights with regard to one or two position groups. I think that Mike Riley is a good coach, I think that he is a craptastic long range planner. I think that there could be an entire article based on receivers alone being mismanaged.

    • I’d say Mullaney had a lot if good reps, and we’ll all probably have a chubby for him by October. You could say Bolden reflects planning as you follow the line of Rodgers-Wheaton-Cooks-Bolden.

    • I can’t remember a time when Oregon State didn’t have a premier receiver on the team. You’re reaching if you’re trying to fault Riley and his staff for their work with WRs. There’s no reason to think someone else can’t step up. Bolden won’t put up Brandin Cooks stats, but he could very well reach 1000 yards. Mullaney is capable of a solid stat line. Hamlett will be one of the top receiving TEs in the conference.

  4. Here’s a couple of things I’ve noticed the first couple of days of practice:

    1. The parking nazis are lurking around the Truax center looking for old alums like me to park in the Reser lot to watch practice, and not pay. Like last year, I’ll not pay, and I’ll continue to attend practice until I get a ticket then I won’t go back.

    2. Sean Mannion looks like a man now, and not a tall boy. He has really filled out in the upper body and looks really strong and confident. He’s a different looking beast out there this year.

    3. Jordan Villaman is big, fast, and just looks like an athlete. He is going to have a big year.

    4. I would not want to try and tackle Terron Ward. If it’s possible he’s gotten thicker and stronger, legs are like tree trunks. He runs low fast and hard. Poised for a good year.

    5. Romaine is not our best kicker.

    6. Mike Riley is very animated so far, actually shouting and teaching. I like it.

    7. It’s hot in Corvallis, to hot to sit through the whole practice.

    8. O line needs help.

    9. Issac will not play this year. Rock solid source who stands by his information.

  5. Bob. Good solid notes as opposed to backseat whining and hand wringing. At what point does someone, anyone put weight back on a mended bone? While it may be stupid to come back too soon, it is booger eating moronic to second guess father and doctors about what Isaac did or did not do.

  6. Seumalo suffered what is referred to as a “Jones fracture” in his foot. It is a notoriously difficult injury to heal due to the anatomy of the blood supply to that area of the fifth metatarsal. After his initial surgery he developed a nonunion where the bone does not heal back together properly allowing motion to occur at this site and causing pain. Weight bearing too early, as Isaac seems to be admitting to, can definitely cause this to happen. That would explain his second surgery in April where the first screw was removed and replaced with another. Normally after a revisional surgery for this type of injury he would be kept off of the foot for anywhere between 8-12 weeks. If Isaac is not back working on conditioning within the next couple weeks it likely means they are worried about another nonunion which would probably send him back to the operating room again. In that scenario I think he easily misses 2-3 months (out for the season).

    • Foot injuries are bitchin’ all around: faschiitis, tendinitis (sometimes spelled tendonitis) Achilles tears. So many bones, joints, ligaments etc. Isaac , a very big guy,5th metatarsal is the smallest metatarsal -it’s broken, he puts weight on it too soon – hurts to think of it.

    • I have a friend who has a bro-in-law who has a wound on his foot that will just never heal because of this same mentality. He gets a boot and figures that means he can walk freely since he has this big piece of tech strapped to his leg. But that just means the wound reopens and infections start all over again. From what I’m told, his doctor finally had enough of the guy ditching crutches and put a soft cast on the whole lower leg. I’m told it was big and awkward and enough to make the guy need crutches until the doctor said so.

  7. Watched a replay of ASU-OSU from last year where they won 30-10 and was impressed with Coach Graham’s in game communication. He takes the most active role in telling his players what the other team is trying to do and giving them frequent advice and motivation.

    He talks about neing a big believer in inspiring his players to lofty goals and chronicling the process from Week 1 as they srt out to achieve those high goals week by week.

    I don’t see Riley di much more than small suggestions here and there. Some of the position coaches will huddle up but for OSU it seems to be more about calling/signalling in plays. Riley of the past was pretty good about balanced offense until we got very pass happy the last 2-3 years, but I like how Graham has confidence about what is going on and he just has to instruct his players how to play game situations as they progress. Riley though he knows formations and offense and trusts Banker on defense seems to be content to get ahead and hold on. His approach has a bit too much hope and not enough firm belief for my tastes.

    We better beat PSU by atleast 21 points. Team needs to show it is confident out of the gate and if anythibg be slightly more run than pass to get that overall team confidence going and players like Chris Brown getting some carries so he is a real factor this season in addition to Ward and Woods. Ww have size advantage so I prefer getting positive yards and moving the chains to make sure there is no doubt against the Viks. I hope Gilmore has a good year as well as Bolden but Malik has to ear our trust on 3rd down since he dropped a number of those last year. He had the frame but now he has to get the confidence and reliability so he can be a factor in winning games.

    Go Beavs. I tens to think 7 wins is about all this team has in them. Seumalo situation could impact that if not back by tougher games or if we lose an early one we have no business losing. Mullaney needs to emerge along with Bolden as leaders of the offense who do everything to keep the chains movibg and score touchdowns.

    Bolden’s speed us OK but not quite what we have had. Ward and Chrus Brown with solid contributions and consistent hard effort from Storm Woods along with Mannion leadership and a hopefully better and attacking defense our my best hopes for pulling out a few cloae ones and getting to 7 or possibly more wins if the team chemistry somehow gels. A few too many question marks this year to reach much more than a Vegas Bowl like level. Have to think UW will be on the rise so lets hope we stand out and do better than WSU to not start falling towards the lower part of the division.

  8. I think this thread topic could be a little overreactive, that said, I don’t think OSU has had an impressive line since the last year or two of Roy Scheuning. Since then, there’s been plenty of injuries, players whose ability was misread and overrated by recruiters (or because they were easy singees), walk-ons, and what appears to be a lack of clarity and strategy in line assignments, there seems to be a pattern of tall, long-armed players moved into guard, inexperienced, shorter or lighter players and projects moved out to tackle. This year, the line assignments seem equally haphazard, with Riley and Cav being quoted as wanting Isaac in different position assignments….

    If the 2014 line is a mess, then the running game won’t go, and the inexperienced receivers are likely to be rendered ineffective because the D won’t need to respect the run game, and this is a 5 win team max.

    if the line is good to go, and Cav can figure out – and stick with – assignments, this is an 8 win team max.

    It seems to me Riley loves to have these situations, which allow for lowered expectations, excuses, in-season “growth” and neat stories about a good game or two (i.e. running game v. UO and BSU last year).

    How long does this football program hold one’s interest? How long does this site continue, forced to recycle thread topics because, well, the program recycles its problems? Mediocrity is a heavy, patient mistress, and its hard to get that bitch off the couch and looking good.

    • There is one simple fact in how an Oline performs. It does well what it does… to a point.

      If the run is abandoned, it will never run-block well. If the pass is abandoned, it will never pass-block well. And that in which it becomes proficient becomes beatable because it’s overused and expected.

      Eggers gives us a 48/25 run/pass ratio in his piece. But even that doesn’t speak to the weak-willed attempt to even try to have a running game last year. Of those 25 runs, about 3.5 were broken pass plays (sacks or negligible QB gains on scrambles). And another 3.5 were fly sweeps or backward passes on quick outs or bubble screens. That means we dedicated a whopping 18 plays per game on pushing the pile. That means misdirections like the fly sweep and play action just never get a chance. And how many of those runs were on second and long after some poor pass call… or a penalty? When we actually tried to run the ball, we succeeded. But for most of the season we never even tried. Then we listened to all these excuses about how the Oline just never opened holes (Eggers even parrots that canard in this piece).

      We started the season by stupidly getting in a shoot-out with EWU. Instead, we should have ground them into chuck and left them for the crows. We should have run the ball downhill all day and turned around to see their broken wills. But for some reason we got the idea that slinging it all over the yard was the way to go.

      We know our offense can pass. 1AA teams are not here so we can prove what is already proven. They’re here so we can fine tune the trench mechanics. The Oline needs an overdose of everything a defense can throw at them… from fresh to overpowered to desperate to tired to broken. Only then can the Oline be told they were given a fair shake.

      • My favorite unfavorite comment after the EWU game was Riley saying he hadn’t known much about their quarterback. That quarterback and EWU’s coach were highly regarded pre-season and Riley should have been afraid, very afraid. Instead, he just settled back and chewed gum.

        • No film on the guy?!? My unfavorite was Banker saying he made the defensive package “overcomplicated,” and should have simplified it and let them play. He said the same thing after that 63-35(?) CW debacle…learn much guys?

      • Just back on the grid from a few days scouting Elk and Mountain Goats; surprised no one has mentioned Eggers comment that Garrett “… is expected to call plays” Isn’t this a significant change from the story all the scribes gave last Spring?

        If true, maybe Riley can do a better job managing the clock, being aware of his teams sideline behavior, and reacting to blatant fouls by the opposition.

    • Didn’t take much did it lol. This is going to be a good football team. The question is if the team has a chance to be special/elite. If injuries pile up once pads go on then it’s going to be tough. If they stay healthy this can be a 10 win team. This will be the best d (which they say wins championships) we’ve had in years. This senior version of mannion could be the best qb we’ve ever had. The ol even without Isaac should be better then what we’ve had the last 5 years. Everyone is down on receivers. Overall I see one of the most athletic groups we’ve ever had. We’ve got solid full backs, tight ends, running backs. Calm down peeps. If your going to get upset about Riley spouting the same cautious coach speak rhetoric to the press then quit reading it. He is who is and isn’t changing that anytime soon. It sounds like he’s as engaged as he’s ever been at practice, getting on players and really trying elevate the team. Isaac would be a big blow and as we say the luck o the Beavs. But there are plenty of bodies (and some big ones at that) to throw in the mix. Talk all the recruiting trash you want, but you can’t say they haven’t been trying to get o linemen. They’ve been signing 5-6+ guys a year since the 5 walk on debacle. Hope is not yet lost my brethren….

      • That’s pretty much what I said last week. I expect 10 wins from this team.

        And while it’s hard to escape Riley’s patterns, I’m thinking we escape them (except for the rhetoric) simply because our five year whine about the OC is now in wait and see mode. I have to think Danny was just the frustrating and weird play-caller from hell in order for this season to work. Well… that and Banker’s scheme not being “too complicated”… a weekly and perennial excuse equivalent to “the enormity of the situation” in my book. If Garrett takes that Oline depth and just punches opponents in the mouth week in and week out, then we see the true potential of this team. I’m one who believes that when an Oline is the aggressor and moving forward in unison (instead of being on the defensive and working individually to stop individuals from getting to the QB) they tend to minimize injury and become more effective in their overall game.

        • Good time to bring this up…my current gambling site has the over/under wins for the season at 6.5 Sometimes I look at the schedule and see 8 wins–other times 5.

          My optometrist and I are working through this issue…

          • I’m curious which 3 games are your swing games.

            Here’s my optimistic predictions from a few weeks ago:
            Sat, Aug 30 Portland State Corvallis, OR -W (1-0)
            Sat, Sep 06 Hawai’i @ HI -W (2-0)
            Sat, Sep 20 San Diego State Corvallis, OR -W (3-0)
            Sat, Sep 27 USC @ USC -L (3-1) (USC has a bye leading up to this game, not that it would matter)
            Sat, Oct 04 Colorado @ CO -W (4-1)
            Thu, Oct 16 Utah Corvallis, OR -W (5-1)
            Sat, Oct 25 Stanford @STAN -W (6-1)
            Sat, Nov 01 California Corvallis, OR -W (7-1)
            Sat, Nov 08 Washington StateCorvallis, OR -W (8-1)
            Sat, Nov 15 Arizona State Corvallis, OR -W (9-1) (ASU Plays big Notre Dame game the week before-hoping they blow their wad that week)
            Sat, Nov 22 Washington @UW -L (9-2)
            Sat, Nov 29 Oregon Corvallis, OR -W (10-2)

            My more realistic take would replace the ASU and Civil War picks, and possibly Stanford, so 8-4 or 7-5 is where I expect them to be by season end.

          • My downside would be sure losses to USC, SU and Nikegon… a toss-up leaning toward a loss at UW… and one inexplicable loss somewhere else. So I would take 6.5 over.

            My high side would take two of the four sure/maybe losses for 10. My very high side would take three of them, but we would still have an inexplicable one somewhere… still for 10, but with better wins.

          • You give me UW because of OSU’s coach too (.500 in league play), the same reason I think you have to give Wazzu and Sparky a chance. WSU comes to town, hits Quizz 15 yards out of bounds, OSU chokes. OSU goes to UW on a six game win streak, a chance for a record-setting 7th straight win, choke. Last years collapse at the back end of the schedule includes loss to ASU. Those examples don’t make UW, ASU, WSU guaranteed OSU losses, but it does help define them as swing games in my book. In all three cases you’ll see opposing coaches who seem to me to be more motivated than Riley, who don’t have Riley’s lifetime contract, and against whom Banker might struggle.

          • I agree that the DOH! factor is in play whenever we take the field. But it’s not because we’re playing anyone in particular. It can be Cal or CU also. Look at our all time records at USC and at ASU. If both were on the schedule, then I would also make ASU a maybe. But they are decimated, on the road and Graham really is not any better than Riley. He just had the remnants of DE talent for the last couple years. Some remnants remain. But they’re pretty much starting over. The Pirate has a process, and I don’t expect that process to really kick in until next year. But it could happen as soon as this year. Still, his offense plays into Banker’s D. Banker historically plays soft up front and fast on the edges. When his front seven has no talent his D is an abomination. I think we have more talent there now than we’ve had for a long while. So I don’t think a primarily passing team will beat us like that.

      • I agree its the best D in years, but factor in the Oline health and the Riley factor (piss away 1-2 games in coaching) and I think they’re back to 8 wins max.

    • I guess technically it would be a conspiracy since there is more than one person involved in the process of production. But to say the Beavs are the sole target would be a stretch of that conspiracy. Anyone who buys (or is gifted) Nike shoes is getting substandard shoes.

      Then again, technically, they’ve flooded the market with their good looking, well marketed crap shoes for years so as to dominate the market and force all other shoe-makers to lower their standards. What was standard 30 years ago was a much higher bar.

      • I remember reading an article about how Nike landed Jordan and started the Air Jordan brand ( a family friend, Rob Strasser was involved in recruiting him). Jordan’s agent told Michael that he wanted him to go to this meeting with Nike, but Jordan didn’t want to because he thought Adidas built a better basketball shoe. Eventually, Jordan’s agent and mom talked him into going to the meeting and money talked…….hence…..Nike is the industry giant that it has become. Not because they made the better shoe

        • The two repetitive orthopedic injuries I sustained were in my teens when I had Nikes… because I thought they were cool. They were tanks with wood planks for soles, but dammit they were cool. I’ve not worn them since, and I’ve had zero problems. There is allegorical evidence that teams that go from Nike to Adidas end up with less repetitive impact injuries and at least 5% less blowouts. I’ve never had a blowout, but I’ve seen one in real time. It looked like the guy broke his ankle and spilled onto the court, but his foot just slid right through the side of his pretty AJs.

          • What if Ariko Iso advises Connor Hamlett to wear,shoes of a different brand,or CH decides he wants to wear shoes of a different brand, Would that be allowed?

          • It’s fine in practice. But he needs to be branding the swooshtika in games. I suppose they could always modify a better shoe by sewing one on. But it’s unlikely that he’s injured because of what is now a miniscule difference in quality of shoe brands. He plays football. Playing in traffic is a safer sport.

  9. Riley with a Peko update(nothing we didn’t know already)…….still needs to pass one last class……

    Riley said he expects to “know more” re: Peko after the summer session ends Aug. 16. Peko needs to pass one last class to play this season.— Connor Letourneau (@ConnOregonian) August 6, 2014

    • I haven’t been following the Peko issue at all, but this sounds promising. I gather that he is on campus and enrolled in a class at OSU… One has to assume that someone on the AD payroll is keeping a close eye on this. Easy class plus a personal tutor seems like it should allow him to squeek by.

  10. Anyone watch Riley’s post practice video on olive? He says He’s very excited about Nall: he’s good at so many things they’ll let him play everything and see where he sticks. First 2 days was h-back. Today he was a running back, and mentions that he could be such a good lb that they’ll try him there to. No defined position at this juncture.

  11. When Derek Neilsen left last year, I thought that it would wreck the depth and actual line play last year. I did not know that it would screw the team up for two years. Derek was no all pro. But he is big enough and versatile enough to plug in at guard or tackle without being a liability. It was a major misjudgement by Cavanaugh and Riley not to give the kid a scholarship. He was better than either of last year’s guards and would have kept Harlow from burning up his freshman year, or should I say burning a year by starting in the middle.

    One area that many fans misjudge from pro football is the offensive line. Riley included. Common mythology says that pro football teams only carry 7-8 total offensive linemen on the roster and only play 5 most of the year. So if it is good enough for the NFL, it must be good enough for college. What people fail to mention and/or are clueless about is that unlike the NFL, a college team graduates (loses) people every year and needs to continually cultivate experience. An NFL team can claim guys from the waiver wire or can hide guys on the development squad and activate new bodies whenever they feel like it. A college roster is much larger than an NFL roster. But if you do not play a lot of guys, you will shoot yourself in the foot the following year. College is developmental and Riley fails to understand this basic concept. We keep hearing about how his system is Quantum Mechanics compared to the unenlightened brand practiced elsewhere. If this is true, why does he recruit so many non qualifiers every stinkin year? If he really teaches cerebral football, why not prize intellect during the recruiting process? Fortunately, OSU has more healthy lineman this year than they have had in at least 5 years. Can they play? Maybe not…but this would be a great group to work with if a coach was willing to take risks, to challenge conventional wisdom and forget about he bear crawl.

      • I disagree. Nielsen was a practice squad player at best. That doesn’t mean he wouldn’t have started in 2010 or 2011. In fact, he looked so good compared to the 2011 line that he got extended time in 2012. In the end he wasn’t anything average, let alone better than average. He’s a sharp kid (football wise), and he has decent athleticism. But he’s not really that good a lineman… at least not in a pro style. I didn’t see any Sac St. tape from last year, but he must have been great for this topic to have come up?

        I do agree with everything else MB says. I think we should get 4-6 O-line every year. There should never be a year a walk-on plays (unless that walk-on is one in a million… literally). There should never be a time when we lament the loss of a walk-on lineman who really wasn’t that good. 4-6 lineman per year will cover attrition, injury, busts and position changes.

        • And Nielsen wasn’t in the same galaxy with Enger and Andrews. Better than those two? I guess it’s always 4:20 somewhere? I’m not saying either was great, but they were serviceable and would have been much better if we would have even pretended to run.

          • Sorry but Andrews ended up on the ground nearly every play and Enger often wiffed. OS had no chance to run last year and wisely avoided the subject. Neilsen was injured at Sac State and did not finish the year. So Jack, unless one has a surname or a title and stars attached to their name, you are like all of the other landed gentry. The clue about Neilsen is the ExSeahawk line coach that coaxed him to Sac State. Prejudice is a fickle thing.

          • I only know what I saw. He wasn’t as good as those two in a system which refused to even address the run. Don’t tell me you know how any lineman did or didn’t know how to run block in the last five years. We simply have not tried to do it beyond a game here and there.

            And in those games the people we’re talking about did a more than fine job.

          • I’m sure if you look back on Nielsen’s 2012 tape you will agree with me on his skills. I do take into account his age and experience. So don’t try to fly that kite.

            Or maybe I have standard of average higher than you?

    • There are currently 21 Offensive Linemen on the roster at the moment. That does not include TE. Save for the last two years, Cav and Riley have always talked about how they like to rotate in and play 8 or 9 guys during the game.

      OL
      Sr: 2
      JR: 4
      So: 5
      FR: 10

  12. Neat little article here about Beau Hott and how he ended up at Oregon State. Didn’t want to sell his soul to Phil Knight and Nike and become Knight’s “play toy”

    Sounds like once he visited OSU, he was fully committed and has no interest of taking going anywhere else, even if offered.

  13. BeaverBlazer: Yup! I got that email too…there must not have been a lot of response or our responses were in the top. I live/work about an hour north of Corvallis. So I asked my boss if I could go to the 4pm session with me leaving around 2:45-3pm and he approved. I work 8-5, so I’ll work thru my lunch and take the hour/hour 15 mins off unpaid. I think it’ll be worth it. So if any of you want me to ask Riley any questions, I’ll make a forum column for it…you’ll have a week and a half to come up with questions…I’m not really coming up with any and I’ll screen them to what I feel would be prudent.

    • I’m still on the fence, but leaning towards going too. Have a similar dilemma with work and need to miss a little time and have a little further to drive. Should be worth it though. I’ve been to a few practices in the past and have enjoyed it. Meeting coach Riley and touring the soon to be defunct Valley Center will be neat too.

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