Christian Wallace Granted Release from Beavs

Former 4-Star CB Christian Wallace has decided to call it quits with the orange and black. Amy Schwartz from the Beaver Blitz first broke the news just before 6:00pm PST that the talented redshirt freshman had been granted release from the Oregon State Football team, allowing him to explore transfer options immediately.

The athletic department released a statement saying Wallace’s departure was based on “personal reasons”.

Wallace was brought into OSU originally as a RB, but never got a footing for the position. He struggled to grasp the offensive playbook, as well as the academic books. As a result, Wallace was deemed academically ineligible for all of last season. Wallace used his redshirt status, but still couldn‘t practice with the team. Even though he struggled with the offensive playbook, he was still one of the most athletically gifted players on the team. This led Gary Anderson to move Wallace to CB at the end of last season, where he could still use his freakish gifts. Yet, that was a learning process as well, as he has spent all of this season learning that position.

Cory Hall worked hard with Wallace this season to get him up to speed, but couldn‘t give him any playing time without preparing him first. “You have to coach Christian Wallace and hope that he has a productive week of practice to where he feels good about the game plan... You want to give him time,” Hall said about Wallace.

The departure could be a combination of a slow learning process in addition to the emergence of S Omar Hicks-Onu. Hicks-Onu has emerged as a solid defender for the Beavers secondary, and his increase in playing time most likely spelled trouble for Wallace’s snap count.

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Amy Schwartz broke down this departure some more, “...Hall wasn’t ready to play Wallace until he was fully prepared and knew what he was doing on the field. He (Wallace) wasn‘t comfortable with getting hit and he struggled on scout team. It’s hard to think this is a hit for the Beavers when he never played a live down for the team.”

Schwartz makes a great point in the last sentence. Wallace’s inability to get on the field nullified his athletic gifts, which has to be frustrating for the coaching staff. This is especially maddening when you recall that Wallace was rated the number 6 athlete in the Beaver’s 2016 signing class.

It seems that a lost season only gets tougher on the weary Beavs. What say you, Beaver Nation? Sound off in the comments section below with your thoughts on Wallace’s departure!