Oregon State hasn’t had a first-round pick in the NFL Draft since Brandin Cooks was taken by the New Orleans Saints in 2014. That drought could end this April.

Former Beaver tight end Luke Musgrave will take part in the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama, this week as he hopes to improve upon his draft stock. That stock, according to NFL.com’s Eric Edholm, could soar throughout the pre-draft process.

In a meaty report previewing the big storylines facing NFL scouts and coaches throughout the week of practice — which began Tuesday — Edholm singles out Musgrave as a player who could use a strong week at the Senior Bowl to push himself up into first-round pick territory.

Edholm wrote that Musgrave is a player with physical tools NFL personnel love, and a player some don’t think lasts beyond the first 50 picks of the draft. From his reporting:

Luke Musgrave absolutely looks the part at 6-foot-5 1/2 and 255 pounds, with an expansive wingspan and a massive pair of hands. Scouts also believe Musgrave is primed for a big workout this spring, sharing similar traits to the Eagles’ Dallas Goedert.

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Is Round 1 a reach? Possibly. But there are some in the scouting community who believe Musgrave won’t get out of the top 50 overall picks, pending his medical evaluation. There will be competition, however, in what looks like one of the stronger tight end classes in some time.

There only have been four tight ends drafted in the first round since 2018. The 2017 NFL Draft is the last time three landed in Round 1. The 2023 class has four potential first-round tight ends, depending on how things shake out: Notre Dame’s Michael Mayer, Georgia’s Darnell Washington, Utah’s Dalton Kincaid and Musgrave.

Musgrave is a bit of an unknown for scouts. He was limited to two games in 2022 because of a knee injury, but got off to a roaring start in those two games. He had six catches of at least 10 yards and four that netted at least 20 yards through those first two games — both of which were top-three marks in the Pac-12 at the time he went down.

The potential is there. Jim Nagy, the Senior Bowl’s director, hinted last week that Musgrave might be capable of hitting a 4.4 time in the 40.

Showing out like that in the pre-draft process? That could lead to a serious surge up draft boards.

The Senior Bowl takes place Saturday at 11:30 a.m. PT on NFL Network. The first round of the NFL Draft is April 27.