Christian Roland-Wallace is one of several incoming transfers from the University of Arizona. Kyon Barrs and Dorian Singer have accompanied him in the Tucson-to-Los Angeles pipeline, but one could make the case that he is the most important of the three.
One aspect of Roland-Wallace’s identity which is impossible to ignore is that he, like Mekhi Blackmon, played at another Pac-12 school but wanted to finish his career at USC. If Roland-Wallace can have a Blackmon-like impact on the Trojans this season, that would be a good result for USC.
Shotgun Spratling of 247Sports wrote:
“Blackmon was a stalwart in the Trojans’ secondary last season, helping him move up draft boards and become a third-round pick of the Minnesota Vikings despite it being one of the deepest drafts for cornerbacks in recent memory.
“Can Roland-Wallace follow a similar trajectory? He’s already a step behind Blackmon, who proved himself as the alpha in the cornerback room during spring camp. Roland-Wallace missed most of USC’s spring camp, so while he has more experience than the rest of the cornerbacks competing for a starting spot, they all, even Domani Jackson, have more experience under (Donte) Williams and in Alex Grinch’s defense.”
Roland-Wallace needs to catch up and be sure he’ll be ready for the heart of the Pac-12 season. USC won’t need him to be great in the first few games of the season against markedly inferior opposition, but he’ll need to be better when USC gets into late September and prepares for the big October 14 game at Notre Dame.
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