Packers Host ‘Freakiest’ Linebacker for Predraft Visit

Trevin Wallace is one of the most athletic linebackers in the 2024 NFL Draft class. The team captain had a big final season at Kentucky.

Author:
Bill Huber
Apr 12, 2024

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2024 NFL Draft

Trevin Wallace

Green Bay Packers

Packers draft visits

Kentucky Wildcats Football

GREEN BAY, Wis. – One of the most athletic and impactful linebackers in the 2024 NFL Draft class, Kentucky’s Trevin Wallace, had a predraft visit with the Green Bay Packers, according to a source.

After originally committing to join Jeff Hafley at Boston College, Wallace was an impact player all three seasons at Kentucky. He made the SEC all-freshman team in 2021, led the team with two interceptions in 2022 and set career highs with 80 tackles, 8.5 tackles for losses and 5.5 sacks in 2023.

Who Is Trevin Wallace?

Wallace was a four-star recruit who lived up to the hype as one of the top linebackers in the nation. Not just a quality player, he was voted a team captain in 2023.

“I’d say I’m very athletic and fast,” he told The Draft Network after being picked for the Senior Bowl. “I have great sideline-to-sideline speed. I’m among the most athletic linebacker prospects in the 2024 NFL Draft. If I’m writing my own scouting report, I have to address some of the cons, as well. I’m working on my eye discipline. I have to do a better job not drifting in coverage. I also have to get off blocks a little quicker.”

A big-time athlete, he made Bruce Feldman’s “Freaks List” for The Athletic. That athleticism showed up at the Scouting Combine. At 6-foot-1 1/8 and 237 pounds, he ran his 40 in 4.51 seconds, put up big numbers in the jumps and finished with a Relative Athletic Score of 9.34.

“It’s crazy to see,” safety Zion Childress said. “I’ve been around a lot of athletic people, different people in my life, but I can say I’ve never seen anybody that size and that weight move the way (Wallace) moves. Speed, jumping, pure explosion, it’s crazy to watch. “They put him on the list of freaks. Man, if he ain’t the freakiest one, I don’t know who is.”

In high school, Wallace ran track and field as a way to push himself.

“I just ran track to help my football speed because if somebody is faster than you and you want to keep up with them you have to get faster,” Wallace said.

Not just a track star masquerading as a football player, he won a state championship in the power clean in high school, as well.

“I stay in the weight room a lot,” he said. “Every chance I get, I am in the weight room working. There are no off days for football. You have to work no matter what.”

How Would Trevin Wallace Fit With Packers?

The Packers have a massive hole at linebacker, where they’ve transitioned to a 4-3 defense and released former All-Pro De’Vondre Campbell. At this point, the starters would be Quay Walker, Isaiah McDuffie and Eric Wilson. The next man up would be special-teamer Kristian Welch.

If the Packers were to spend an early draft pick on Wallace, it would be with the expectation that he’d be a Day 1 starter and perhaps challenge McDuffie for the every-down role alongside Walker. His play in coverage will go a long way toward determining his role in the NFL.

“I’m good in coverage. I’m getting better every single day. There’s always room for improvement,” he said in The Draft Network story. “Sometimes I’ll be watching the film with my coaches and I made a good play, but what if I didn’t drift? Maybe I could have had an interception instead of just forcing an incompletion, or making a tackle. It’s the little things.

“We played a lot of man coverage this season at Kentucky. I got better at playing man coverage as a result. I’m looking forward to getting more reps in man-to-man looks.”

What is Trevin Wallace’s Round Projection?

The Packers have four picks in Day 2 of the draft, with two selections in the second round and two more in the third. In a recent mock draft for NFL.com, Chad Reuter made Wallace the 50th overall selection. At The 33rd Team, he is No. 62 overall. In Dane Brugler’s “The Beast” for The Athletic, Wallace is the 86th-ranked prospect.

Pro Football Focus, on the other hand, has him at No. 246.

“I don’t hold it over my head. It puts a chip on my shoulder,” he told FanDuel’s Kay Adams. “It’s like, ‘Well, they can think that’ but when the time comes and they really see it, they’re going to be ‘Oh, I underestimated Trevin Wallace. I underestimated everything he did.’ When he starts playing and they see it, ‘OK, he was the truth and I’m sorry for everything I said about him.’ It’s really motivation for me.”