2025 Oregon State Football Preview: Offensive Line
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Last season, the Oregon State football team followed the success and failure of their offensive line. When Oregon State's blockers were healthy, Beaver backs Jam Griffin and Anthony Hankerson ground opponents to dust. When the line was injured, the whole offense faltered.
This season, a fresh crop of transfers and redshirts boost the depth of the offensive line group, and a key returner from injury gives the Beavers hope for a physical, consistent running game in 2025.
Starting Tackles - Jacob Strand, Keyon Cox
Canby native Jacob Strand, a 6'5" redshirt junior, saw 114 snaps across 3 games (Idaho St, San Diego St, Oregon) last season. He also earned reps in 6 games in 2023 and 3 games in his true freshman 2022 campaign. Following 2024 left tackle Gerad Christian-Lichtenhan's turn pro, and 2024 right tackle Flavio Gonzalez's transfer to Arizona, Strand is poised to seize one of the Beavers starting tackle spots.
Opposite him, 6'5" redshirt sophomore Keyon Cox transferred in from UCF, where he played 3 games across 2 seasons. Look for new offensive line coach Mike Cavanaugh to personally mentor the inexperienced but physically impressive tackle.
Starting Guards - JT Hand, Tyler Voltin
Arizona redshirt senior transfer guard JT Hand arrives in Corvallis with 10 games played across 4 seasons, and a strong lineage: his father Bryan played guard at Arizona in the 90s. Out of high school, the younger Hand was ranked a national top 20 line prospect by several recruiting services, and could be poised to reach that potential with a fresh start at Oregon State.
Redshirt senior Tyler Voltin did reach his potential - when he played - but the promising starting guard from Stayton's Regis Catholic HS saw his 2024 season cut short by ACL & MCL tears in his knee. If Voltin isn't ready to go, expect a deep, heated battle for his starting guard spot.
Starting Center - Van Wells
After transferring from Colorado, Wells anchored Oregon State's 2024 line with 11 starts, 644 snaps, and 0 sacks allowed. Expect more of the same from the 6'2" senior.
Offensive Line Depth
If one of the startes goes down, or if Tyler Voltin's rehab hits a snag, Oregon State has a fascinating conundrum. On one hand, the Beavers have a long list of eager offensive linemen ready for their opportunity. On the other hand, most of their reserve linemen lack playing experience.
6'4" redshirt freshman Dylan Sikorski has impressive physical traits - coaches asked him to play defensive snaps just to get him on the field - and he could see his first offensive line reps this season. Georgia State transfer tackle Will Larkins played inside in high school, and hypothetically brings that versatility into the fray. Nevada redshirt sophomore transfer Josiah Timoteo played 15 games with 9 starts over 2 seasons, mainly at right tackle. 6'5" redshirt senior Tyler Morano played 15 games over the past 4 seasons. Redshirt junior Nathan Elu saw 88 snaps across 12 games last season.
Deeper on the depth chart, look for redshirt senior Tyler Morano, as well as redshirt sophomores Zander Etsy, Ben Hartman, Jacob Anderson, Thomas Schnapp, and Ryan Berger. The Beavers can also count on redshirt freshmen Jayden Tuia, Adam Hawkes, and Jack Wagner. True freshman Jake Normoyle will likely redshirt this season.
More Reading Material From Oregon State Beavers On SI
Matt fell in love with radio during his college days at Oregon Tech, and pursued a nine year career in sports broadcasting with Klamath Falls' and Medford's highest-rated sports radio stations. He currently lives in McMinnville wine country and is excited to talk about the Beavers again.