Levi Wallace: From Underdog to Steelers
On Thursday, the Pittsburgh Steelers officially signed former Buffalo Bills cornerback Levi Wallace to a two-year, $8 million dollar deal.
With the strong possibility of losing Joe Haden to another team during free agency, Pittsburgh added a younger, cheaper player to their secondary. Despite being undrafted out of Alabama, Wallace started all 52 of his games in a Bills uniform.
He doesn't view himself as an undrafted player, however.
"I don't let people's expectations get put on me," Wallace said. "People say undrafted, I say eighth round. So I did get drafted. That's been my story, walking on at Alabama and no one expected me to start there, win a championship, let alone get a scholarship."
Wallace's story is an incredible one fueled by determination and perseverance. Wallace was barely recruited coming out of high school and then made the decision to walk-on at Alabama. Before his freshman season was even underway, he lost his father to a battle with ALS but the young man from Tucson kept pushing and defying odds.
Considering that Alabama's backups are normally four or five-star recruits, no one probably ever imagined that Wallace would eventually become a starter in his last season in Tuscaloosa.
Wallace would lead the entire SEC in passes defended his final year in college while also picking off three passes.
Pittsburgh was also interested in Wallace coming out of the draft but he elected to join Buffalo for a better chance to get on the field right away. He then rewarded them with four years of solid contributions, but this past season was when Wallace seemed to finally put it all together and establish himself in the league.
Bills star cornerback Tre White suffered a season ending ACL injury, Sean McDermott's defense needed someone to step up into that CB1 role and Wallace answered the call.
Wallace's coverage numbers across the 2021 season read as follows, per Sports Info Solution:
- 543 cover snaps
- 60 targets
- 31 catches
- 302 yards
- 3 touchdowns
- 2 interceptions
- 61.9 passer rating when targeted
His 0.6 yards per coverage snap was seventh best in the entire NFL last season.
When you look at those numbers, you would assume that he would have been able to cash in for a nice payday but his contract with the Steelers looks like a potential steal. Pittsburgh gave the fifth-year pro a $2.96 signing bonus which will be spread out over both years of the contract. His cap hit for 2022 will be just $2.52M before rising to $5.48M for 2023. If Wallace performs how he did in his final few seasons in Buffalo, this deal looks very team friendly moving forward.
With Ahkello Witherspoon now reportedly also back in the fold for the Steelers secondary, they have a solid foundation of cover guys to hold their own behind a dominant pass rush. Wallace will likely man the boundary spot opposite Witherspoon while Cam Sutton kicks inside on passing downs when the Steelers are in their sub packages.
While this group may lack that elite talent or shutdown corner, you can envision them holding their own if the pass rush is as dominant as it looks on paper.
What is the scouting report for Wallace on the field? He's a tall, long zone corner who likes to use his length to his advantage to disrupt the timing of receivers. Wallace essentially has tree limbs for arms. His 32 3/4 arm length is in the 89% for NFL cornerbacks.
A disciplined, competitive player who seems to always be in the right spot and understands his strengths and weaknesses. When working in off zone coverage, he's hyper aware of route concepts happening both in front of him and behind him.
Wallace has always been a willing tackler which is something that Pittsburgh requires for the position. After initially struggling early on in his career by missing 17 tackles back in 2019, Wallace has shown great improvement. In the last two season, he's missed just ten total tackles while playing over 1,500 snaps on defense, according to SIS.
There are some athletic limitations with Wallace as he lacks that third gear to keep up with faster straight line receivers in the NFL. He could be more consistent with finding and locating the football. As is typically the case with taller cornerbacks, he's a bit tight hipped and this shows up when he's tasked with operating in man coverage.
Essentially, Wallace is a cheaper, younger version of the Joe Haden off coverage corner role. He's a rock solid, steady boundary corner that can step in right away and contribute. Pittsburgh will likely look to add another player to the mix in next month's NFL Draft but it's not a glaring, giant black hole that it was a week or so ago.
Wallace has all the makings of a fan favorite in Pittsburgh. The underdog can become a household name if he can continue his upwards trajectory in the Steel city. The Steelers defense improved with this addition and it'll be interesting to see if they can bounce back in 2022 to become one of the best defenses in the NFL.
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