Oregon State’s tight end room should once again sit near the center of what the Beavers want to do on offense in 2026.
That’s a familiar lane for this program, and even with Bryce Caufield needing to be replaced, the group looks deep enough to matter in both phases. Oregon State brought back Gabe Milbourn and added several experienced transfers, and the unit backed up that promise with a strong showing in the spring game.
It’s probably too much to say the Beavers will lean on tight ends as heavily as they have in past seasons once the games start, but the position group has enough bodies and enough skill to shape both the run game and the passing attack. That matters even more with a receiving corps that doesn’t have proven playmakers yet. In that sense, the tight ends may carry more weight as pass catchers and blockers than they otherwise would.
Milbourn is the only returning starter in the group, and the sixth-year senior leads all returning players on the roster with 17 catches for 185 yards and one touchdown. He should stay in the mix no matter what, and there’s still a path for him to keep a starting role, especially in two-tight-end looks.
The transfers give Oregon State real competition at the top. Eric Olsen and DaCorion Temple both arrive with productive resumes from their previous stops, and Temple’s athleticism stands out as perhaps the best in the room. He appears to have a defined role heading into the fall, though the question is whether he ends up at the top of the depth chart.
Olsen brings size that could help smooth the jump to a tougher level of competition, but he still has to prove that his past production carries over.
Behind that trio, Cody Siegner and T’Andre Waverly each flashed during the spring. What that means in August is less clear, but they added to the sense that this group has options.
The biggest thing to watch is how Oregon State sorts out the top two spots. Milbourn, Temple and Olsen will all be pushing for them, and the Beavers are likely to use 12 and 13 personnel more often, especially against Houston and Texas Tech.
In Other News...
Former Beavers Are Making Their Mark All Over MLB
The latest run of major league highlights from former Oregon State players has been hard to miss. Matt Boyd and Drew Rasmussen each delivered seven-inning shutouts in recent games, a reminder of how much pitching talent has flowed through Corvallis and how quickly that Beaver pipeline can show up on a big league box score. Both arms have been especially sharp lately, with Boyd looking effective since returning from injury and Rasmussen building momentum over his last few starts.
The offensive side of the ledger has been just as busy, with Wade Meckler and Trevor Larnach each leaving the yard on solo homers over the weekend. Even beyond the power swings, former Beavers are stacking up meaningful contributions across MLB, from Boyds steady comeback to Rasmussens run of efficiency and Kwans notable jump at the plate since the All-Star break. It is the kind of spread-out success that keeps Oregon State fans checking scores all over the league. [Read more 🡒]
Oregon State Just Got An Early Reality Check In The New Pac-12
Boise State opened the preseason with the kind of respect that usually comes with a conference title run, landing as the favorite to win the first football season in the rebuilt Pac-12 in a media poll organized by Tyler King and filled out by multiple voters. Fresno State came in third, which gives the top of the league a familiar feel, but Oregon States placement at eighth is the number that stands out most for a program trying to navigate a brand-new landscape.
For the Beavers, it is an early reminder that reputation alone will not carry much weight in this version of the league. The poll does not decide anything on the field, of course, but it does offer a blunt snapshot of where Oregon State sits in the eyes of the conferences media watchers as the season approaches, and it leaves the Beavers with something to prove before the real standings ever take shape. [Read more 🡒]
Oregon State Could Be The First Test Oklahoma State Can't Afford To Fail
Oklahoma States place in the preseason Coaches Poll did not come with much ceremony, but it did say something about where the Cowboys stand heading into the year. They landed in the others receiving votes group with 22 points, which put them unofficially 37th, and the poll also pegged them for a seventh-place finish in the Big 12. For a program that was last in the Coaches Poll during week five of 2024, when it checked in at No. 20, there is still plenty of work to do before anyone is talking about it as a league contender again.
The schedule does not offer much margin for easing in. Oklahoma State has ranked matchups ahead against Oregon, Houston and Texas Tech, the kind of stretch that can quickly shape how the season is viewed outside Stillwater. If the Cowboys are going to climb out of that middle tier and back into the conversation, they will need to treat every one of those games like a measuring stick, starting with the first chance to prove the poll wrong. [Read more 🡒]