What DJ Uiagalelei has shown Jonathan Smith since arriving at Oregon State

For two of the top three ranked quarterbacks in the 2020 recruiting class, successful college careers recently culminated with them being the top two picks in this year’s NFL draft.

The No. 1 ranked 2020 QB, Bryce Young, was selected No. 1 overall by the Carolina Panthers. The No. 3 ranked QB, CJ Stroud, went No. 2 overall to the Houston Texans.

Now, the other member of that top three is hoping a fresh start at a new school can help him eventually join those two at the NFL level.

After two up-and-down seasons as the starting quarterback at Clemson, DJ Uiagalelei transferred to Oregon State during the winter and recently finished his first spring as a member of the Beavers program.

The early feedback has been positive.

“Physical talent (is there) and desire to be good,” Oregon State head coach Jonathan Smith told On3. “He’s worked at it. He was in our offices all the time learning the scheme (this spring). We knew there was going to be a learning curve. The system he was coming from to ours is quite a bit different. So we knew that was going to take place in the spring and it did. But where he ended practice 15, just way more comfortable, operating pretty well within the system. Physical tools were there. Great teammate. Smart. So yeah, I think he’s got a chance.”

Uiaigalelei, who accounted for 29 total touchdowns at Clemson last season, joined a quarterback room that also includes redshirt sophomore Ben Gulbranson and four-star freshman Aidan Chiles, a top-160 overall recruit.

Gulberson, who posted 14 total touchdowns while going 7-1 as Oregon State’s starting QB last year, has been Uiagalelei’s primary competition for the starting quarterback job to this point.

Smith doesn’t plan on selecting a starter until fall camp.

“We got to December and we wanted to add a transfer older quarterback to add competition to the room,” Smith said. “… And so ideally, when you’re bringing in (someone) to add competition, (you’re looking for) a guy with experience. You’re looking for a guy who can fit our place. And it wasn’t just a bang bang with DJ now. We had multiple conversations, talked to a lot of people, made sure he was interested for the right reasons as well. And I think it was a good fit. 

“Wanted a fresh start, played a bunch of games, wanted to come to our system, which was important, because we’re not throwing it 55 times a game. We’re running a style that I think fits him for his development — come to the line of scrimmage, you do some stuff, play under center, play-action pass. So all of that over time in December, felt like both sides were like, ‘This is a good thing.’”

Even though Oregon State finished 10-3 last season and even though Smith continues to be a highly respected offensive mind and quarterback developer, the Beavers’ passing game left a lot to be desired last season for Smith and his offensive staff.

While ranking fourth-best in the Pac-12 in rushing offense, Oregon State was second-worst in passing offense. The only team that ranked lower was 1-11 Colorado.

It marked the fourth straight season the Beavers ranked seventh or worse in the conference in passing after finishing fifth during Smith’s first season as head coach in 2018.

“We’re definitely hopeful that we can complement our run game better with our pass game that is more productive,” Smith said. “Felt the pass game being more productive — again, not changing the offense — but we were able to run the ball and do some good things there, but we needed to complement that better in some games to throw it more because ultimately in our league, you’ve got to throw it to score more and we’re going to need to score in this league with the quarterback (talent) and how many good teams there are that can score. So we’re hopeful this year coming up that we’ll put some more points on the board.”

Uiagalelei may help with that.

At the same time, at this place that’s more than a 40-hour drive away from the spotlight of Clemson, Uiagalelei has a shot in this new offense and a chance to still become the third of those top 2020 QB recruits to make it to the NFL if all goes well.

“It’s been great,” Uiagalelei said in an interview during the Pac-12 Network broadcast of Oregon State’s spring game. “The biggest thing for me is just trying to learn the offense. It’s definitely different from Clemson. It’s more of a pro-style offense. But I love it. … Just trying to take it one step at a time.”