Will we be ok without Yvenson Bernard??

The Beavs end their season in three weeks and I am sad to say that we are losing a lot of important senior Beavs to the NFL. The exciting Emerald Bowl should be a momentous occasion for all of our greats to shine one last time and make us all proud. I booked my ticket and can not wait for the city by the Bay.

Below is a list of Graduating Seniors and the holes that Riley will need to fill ASAP -
Clinton Polk, Dorian Smith, Derrick Doggett, Kyle DeVan, Yvenson Bernard, Anthony Brown, Gerard Lawson, Ryan Gunderson, Roy Schuening, Matthew Sieverson, Jeff Van Orsow, Brandon Powers, Sammie Stroughter (Might get medical redshirt), Curtis Coker, Joey LaRocque

Looking at this list, it is almost as if each of these individuals has their name in the newspaper each week for big plays of the game. We are losing almost our entire starting D line and a few of the heart and soul of the O line. We lose an amazing Cornerback in Lawson (We still have Afalava for another year) and our ENTIRE set of RBs. The loss of an O line and Bernard and Sieverson will hurt the OSU running game tremendously which will mean that the Smilin' Samoan and Canfield will need to step up their accuracy even more than they did at the end of the year. Time will tell if its going to be a long season or a breakout season for the Beavs QBs next year.

One of the only benefits of the ugly, horrible spread offense system that seemingly every college football team runs these days is the high school mirroring phenomenon. When Dixon or Tebow are shown nationally as scrambling and running QBs with little to no arm strength and accuracy, high schools across America train their defenses to stop the spread offense. RESULT - Very fast, leaner DLs, even faster LBs with good vision and NO need to perfect the CB system. Riley still runs a more traditional system and so we benefit twofold from this phenomenon. We can recruit the strong fast defenders meant to stop people like Dixon (seems like no need now) and we still have most of our amazingly strong upperclassmen CBs. And those other schools can not recruit the CBs of quality needed to beat our system.

One of the high school recruits that perfectly fits this need is Tony Wilson of Sprague. He is a big, fast LB with amazing vision. Watching him play this year was a treat and made me excited for Linebacker U to pump out another superstar.

So as usual, our defense will spring back from the losses, but what about our offense. Can we survive without Bernard? Will our entire running game consist of Rodgers doing a fly sweep? FEAR NOT Beaver faithful. While the adjustment period will most definitely be a rough one after Bernard goes to the NFL, we have some amazing recruits entering our system starting next year that could elevate our running game to another level.

The most exciting prospect is Jacquizz Rodgers, the brother of current superstar Rodgers from the Civil War. The 5'6'' 180 LB running back may sound more like a kickers stat line, but looking at this kid play on Youtube, it is evident that he could easily become the next Kenny S.
Jacquizz was heavily recruited by LSU and Mississippi State, but was convinced to come to OSU by his big brother. He holds the Texas State Rushing record over a certain Chicago Bear of a similar stature and demeanor (Cedric Benson) and he already knows how to win (his team is in the state finals). This kid is the real deal and a year in the weight room should make him a monster in the Pac-10. I can seem him giving us a full collegiate career because of his size which bodes well for the Beavs. For more information, check out Jacquizz' Myspace Account - http://www.myspace.com/rocrodgers.

The biggest back coming in as a recruit is the rock solid 6'1'', 220 Jeremy Francis from El Camino College in Torrance, Calif. He had an amazing year and looks to be a good challenger for the starting RB position.

BRING ON THE BEAVS IN 2008!