OSU Football Practice Report: Backup QB Competition Nearing an End

Oklahoma State concluded a nearly two-hour practice session on Wednesday morning. Afterwards, Mike Gundy and several players met with the media to give a mid-fall camp update on progress with just over two weeks until the first game of the season.

Here are three things you need to know as OSU hits the halfway mark of camp.

1. Backup QB competition nearing an end

Two weeks into camp, we know two things: Mason Rudolph will start (which .. duh), and the battle for QB2 is down to Keondre Wudtee and Taylor Cornelius. Gundy said he’s not yet ready to make a decision yet, but may have tipped his hand when he said Cornelius has seen his reps increase of late.

“We’re close,” Gundy said. “I don’t know that we’re ready to just say what we’re going to do. We’re adjusting reps. Both guys are getting better, but Taylor has made some strides through maturity and done some things that — I haven’t sat down with the offensive staff — but I know that they’ve increased his reps over the last few days.”

While Gundy and his staff aren’t yet ready to tab a backup, it seems Cornelius has taken a slight edge in the battle. It will be interesting to see if Wudtee, who has a totally different skillset than Cornelius, can make a run at it before the backup is announced.

2. Grad transfer Aaron Cochran nailing down left tackle position

With Victor Salako now in the NFL, the starting left tackle position was a question mark going into the summer. But the addition of Cal graduate transfer Aaron Cochran, a 6-foot-8 physical specimen, it seems OSU might have found its Salako replacement.

“Aaron’s starting to get the job at left tackle, he’s getting a feel for our offense,” said Gundy.

Although Clemson cornerback transfer Adrian Baker may not be a lock to start from day one just based off Gundy’s comments from Wednesday, it seems Cochran could wind up sliding in to left tackle as a starter when OSU opens the season on Aug. 31. Both fifth-year transfers figure to play big roles this season.

3. Tylan Wallace will have a role in 2017

Even with the amount of depth at receiver this season, freshman receiver Tylan Wallace appears slated to take on a small, custom-fit role in the OSU offense. The former four-star talent from Fort Worth has turned heads in camp with his speed and versatility, and it’s just a matter of how quickly he can pick up the system that will determine his impact in 2017.

“The guy just gets open,” offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich said of Wallace. “He’s very nifty. But he’s also got really good speed. Great top-end speed, he can blow the top off. He’s great on intermediate routes. There’s really nothing he can’t do. He’s picking up the system really well … the challenge is to get him on the field and keep his package relatively small so he knows where he’s going.”

Yurcich noted, too, that he wants to give Wallace every opportunity to be successful and allowing him to soak in everything mentally. But even with a loaded bunch of wide receivers, he’s going to play this season, it appears.