QB Uiagalelei prepared to ‘suffice loose’ at Oregon St

CORVALLIS, Ore.– DJ Uiagalelei chose Oregon State as his transfer destination, sight unseen, mainly since of an NFL-style offense that puts terrific obligation on its quarterbacks.Despite the requiring plan, Uiagalelei, who began most of the previous two seasons at Clemson, has felt even more freed on the practice field this spring.”I wanted to go somewhere where the scheme

is going to fit me,”Uiagalelei informed ESPN.” I wished to go someplace where they’re going to let me be who I am as a player, let me play totally free, and let me head out there and just suffice loose. Simply someplace where I can do what I wished to do. “Uiagalelei, ESPN’s top-rated pocket passer in the 2020 recruiting class, entered the transfer portal Dec. 5 and picked Oregon State 18 days later without checking out campus. Viewed as the next elite Clemson quarterback following Trevor Lawrence and Deshaun Watson, Uiagalelei went 22-6 as the Tigers ‘starter and revealed enhancement last season after an unstable 2021 campaign, however was changed by freshman Cade Klubnik early in the ACC championship.The 6-foot-4, 251-pound Uiagalelei looked for a return to the West Coast, closer to his home in Southern California.

He thoroughly researched Oregon State’s offense, which had aspects that he felt could finest prepare him for an NFL career. Uiagalelei also noted the successful transfers of quarterbacks such as Will Levis, who left Penn State for Kentucky and might be a top-10 choice in next week’s NFL draft.”I wanted to be able to do play-action, toss a lot of deep balls, deep posts, scheme-wise, a little bit more complicated than I was doing at Clemson, a little more NFL-style,” Uiagalelei said.”I took a look at Will Levis. A great deal of individuals have him going first round, due to the fact that he’s an excellent player, however also due to the fact that he played in a pro-style system.”Uiagalelei is competing this spring with redshirt sophomore Ben Gulbranson and freshman Aidan Chiles. Gulbranson went 7-1 as Oregon State’s starter as the team went 10-3 and completed No. 17 nationally. However the Beavers also ranked 104th in passing and wanted to add quarterback options. All 3 players dealt with the first-team offense in Thursday’s practice in advance of Saturday’s spring game.“I wished to go someplace where they’re going to let me be who I am as a player, let me play free, and let me head out there and simply suffice loose,”QB DJ Uiagalelei said about leaving Clemson for Oregon State. AP Photo/Jacob Kupferman Coach Jonathan Smith praised Uiagalelei’s technique towards finding out the offense and getting in touch with his brand-new teammates. Uiagalelei hasn’t led an offense that gathers given that the seventh grade. “He’s been great, at an early stage not attempting to be flashy or the face of the program from the get-go, but simply fitting in with the guys,”Smith informed ESPN.”He remains in this structure every day, trying to absorb. This is a new

system. It’s drastically different from what he was doing, so it’s taken him reps to get comfortable with the calls, altering the play at the line of skirmish, checking out the signal, securities. “From the first day to where he’s at now, it’s night and day. “Uiagalelei has actually adjusted well to Corvallis, a larger college town than Clemson and one that provides more locations to go

and greater privacy. He frequently sees his more youthful brother, Matayo, a freshman defensive end at Oregon, a 50-minute drive from Oregon State’s campus. “It’s something different from Clemson where every player, they acknowledge you, come near you, ask you for a picture,” Uiagalelei stated. “Here, it’s great, I simply walk, me and my sweetheart, go eat, no one knows who I am. It’s great.”Uiagalelei spoke glowingly of his time at Clemson and the relationships he developed with Bryan Bresee, R.J. Mickens, Tyler Venables and others. He wishes to use everything that took place at Clemson– excellent and bad– to his next chapter at Oregon State.”The most significant thing is if you don’t learn from your losses, you don’t turn that’ L’ into a’W,’ then what’s the point?”he stated.”Everything in life that you go through, it’s a lesson.

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