BEAVERS TIE UP LOOSE END.

Byline: Bob Clark The Register-Guard

CORVALLIS - Sean Canfield, looking over the Oregon State tight ends as he's likely to be doing on passing downs next fall, found everything to his liking except for the absence of Joe Newton, the graduated all-leaguer.

`It's going to be hard to replace Joe,' said Canfield, OSU's sophomore quarterback. `But there are three guys who are very capable, and Gabe Miller's not out there yet.'

Except, that was Miller one afternoon in the Truax Center, going through all the drills and running routes with the offense, sometimes as No. 1 at the position. That's quite a rise for the redshirt freshman who has torn his right Achilles tendon twice in the past year, and wasn't expected to participate on much more than a token basis this spring.

So what was Miller doing out there? On a day when there was no contact, about everything every other tight end was doing, including making some nice catches downfield.

`I was a little surprised,' acknowledged OSU coach Mike Riley. `I didn't want him in there.'

So that might be as far as Miller goes this spring. He definitely won't participate in any contact drills, but his progression from his second surgery last September has gone well enough that he's optimistic he'll be running full out this summer, and Riley projects him into the mix for the opening at tight end when formal drills begin in August.

`We're going to put him right in there,' Riley said. `He probably will have to fight through a little bit of hesitancy (about the injury) but he sure has done a great job' in rehabilitating from the surgery.

Miller first tore his Achilles running track last spring. He was still recovering from that surgery when he suffered another tear late in the summer.

`They said the reason it tore (again) was an excess amount of scar tissue building up, and it created a weak spot,' Miller said. `It didn't tear in the same spot.'

His goal for now is simply to `get my legs back under me,' Miller said. `I've had no soreness in my Achilles. ... I can still feel it a little bit when I'm cutting so I'm not quite the same speed. I'll be working on that.

`It'll just take time. I haven't run routes in so long, I have to get used to the feel of things again.'

The anticipated return of Miller is almost a bonus for the Beavers, at a position where they probably feel better about the prospects than they should after losing Newton, and primary backup Jason Vandiver.

`It's a good young group,' Riley said. `The young is a little scary but not the character and the talent. That's a good group that eventually, and I hope very soon, will be a very good crew of tight ends.

`They've all shown some sparks. You seem them kind of light it up every once in a while. Consistency at any position is the key, and they're not going to be there yet because they're too inexperienced. They just haven't seen it all.'

The ones who have been given a glance are sophomores Howard Croom and John Reese, who each played - sparingly - in 2006 as true freshmen. That was prompted by Riley looking ahead to this season, and wanting a tight end or two who had at least suited up, and been on the field for special teams, and perhaps mop-up duty.

`That was a great help,' Croom said. `I know the offense very well and I know both tight end positions real well.

`I feel real comfortable. I've made it a point to know the playbook and that's one of the most comforting things, to know for sure what you're doing.'

So after one catch, in the six games he played last season, Croom has the slight edge in experience over Reese. The next two tight ends listed on the depth chart are Miller and fellow redshirt freshman Brady Camp.

In other words, four tight ends who enrolled together last fall.

`There's no one for us to look up to anymore,' Croom said.

Well, how about him then? He's as veteran as there is at the position.

`I guess you could say that,' Croom responded. `In the sense that I didn't redshirt last year, and I got to go to all the games, I've been through that experience, and only John and I have done that.

`People can ask us, `What's going on? What should I do here?' '

That's easier to answer than how will everything shake out at the position by that opening game Aug. 30 against Utah. Newton and Vandiver combined for 43 catches last season, including eight touchdowns, and must have done some blocking for Yvenson Bernard to run for 1,307 yards.

`I'm telling you, the overall group, with the talent combined with the work ethic, those guys are going to be fine,' Riley said. `They've got to be, in a way, because they're one of the missing links for the offense.

`It's a big deal for us that they do well, and I think they will.'