Oregon State Football

Oregon State Football: Most Valuable Player Countdown - #26 Christian Wallace

Can the 4 star recruit fill Treston Decoud’s shoes?

By Travis Johannes@Travis_Johannes Jul 31, 2017, 12:45pm PDT

#26 Christian Wallace- Cornerback

When the Oregon State secondary takes the field for the first time in 2017 there will two members from last year’s squad missing. Safety Devin Chappell (Kansas City Chiefs) and cornerback Treston Decoud (Houston Texans), both of whom have moved on to the NFL. One name to keep an eye on to fill the void left by Decoud is 4 star 2016 recruit Christian Wallace.

The standout from Sealy, Texas was ranked as the #6 athlete in the 2016 class after a standout career as a running back and defensive back, while also playing basketball and competing on the track team for Sealy High School. Expectations were high for Wallace as he came to Corvallis, but like others in the 2016 class academic issues put a damper on expectations as Wallace was not eligible for what would have been a true freshman season.

Wallace is still fairly green at cornerback after a year off from football, but coaches saw a ton of improvement and potential out of Wallace in spring practices, often battling with fellow 4-star recruit Isaiah Hodgins. Gary Andersen was quoted by the Oregonian "He has far from mastered his craft, but he's handling that very well," Andersen said. "He's handling the adversity of not having a good rep and he's handling the situations when he puts a good rep together. He's staying pretty steady, which I'm proud of him for that because a lot of times it's an emotional position and the kids can get caught in the ups and downs." Wallace will face stiff competition from several others for the starting spot opposite Xavier Crawford, but he could see the field on special teams and maybe even offense as well, as Gary Andersen noted on signing day 2016 that he may want to find ways to get Wallace the ball.