Mike's Beer Bar War Room: Wallace an under-appreciated addition taken on the South Side (War Room)

KARL ROSER / STEELERS

Levi Wallace catches a ball two weeks ago at minicamp on the South Side.

In a vacuum, replacing an established veteran presence such as Joe Haden with Levi Wallace in free agency looks like a downgrade. 

But is it really?

Wallace, signed by the Steelers in free agency after he spent the first four seasons of his career with the Bills, is perhaps a younger, less-heralded version of Haden.

What are the Steelers getting in Wallace and how does he fit in with his new team?

Let's take a look.

The Steelers signed Wallace, who turned 27 earlier this month, to a two-year, $8 million contract this offseason. That contract includes a little less than $3 million in signing bonus. His base salary this year is a little over $1 million, and he is set to make $4 million next year.

Like most of the Steelers' new acquisitions, Wallace has a compelling backstory. Even though he ended up at Alabama, he wasn’t heavily recruited, walking on for the Crimson Tide. He didn't earn a scholarship until his third college season. But he overcame the odds and became a starter for Nick Saban’s excellent defense, blossoming into a starter and key member of a the team that won the 2018 NCAA championship, alongside Minkah Fitzpatrick.

As a draft prospect, Wallace’s testing numbers hurt his cause. Although he has very good height at exactly 6-foot, he only weighed in at 179 pounds. He has very good length though and certainly didn’t play small with the Crimson Tide. But his 4.63 40-yard dash time was enough for him not be selected in the 2018 NFL draft. The Bills did give him a substantial contract for an undrafted free agent, though. 

Coming out of Alabama, some profiled Wallace as a do-it-all safety rather than an outside cornerback. The reasoning was that he wasn’t an elite athlete and clearly had the physicality and toughness for the safety position. 

The Bills didn’t use him in this manner and in reality, he is too lean for such a role on a full-time basis. Instead, Wallace was usually the cornerback opposite star cover man Tre’Davious White. And that led to plenty of targets in his direction. Wallace consistently exceeds expectations and has been tested a great deal at the college and pro levels. 

Wallace fought for playing time in his first two NFL seasons but was a stalwart on special teams. After playing about 1,200 snaps in his first two years, the Bills picked up Wallace's option for the 2020 season, but he missed significant time that year because of an ankle injury and a COVID diagnosis. Wallace did cap his 2020 season off with a bang, though, by intercepting Ben Roethlisberger on a Sunday night game, securing a Buffalo win:  

Wallace held up very well despite all the attention he got opposite White. He uses his length well, plays with confidence, has very good technique and plays the ball well. Wallace is very mentally tough, but his lack of bulk and power can be issues at times. 

The Bills kept Wallace in the 2021 season as their starter opposite White. After White tore his ACL in Week 12, Wallace was Buffalo’s best cornerback. Last year, the Bills defense allowed just 4.8 yards per play. That was the best in the league, and Buffalo was the only defense that allowed under five yards per snap. The Bills' 18.3 points allowed per game was also tops in the NFL.     

Even though he didn’t see his first defensive snap in the NFL until Week 10 of the 2018 season, in his four seasons in Buffalo, Wallace had 219 tackles and intercepted six passes. He logged 993 snaps last year on an excellent defense, and over his four years in Buffalo, Wallace played 2,806 snaps. 

The Bills utilized a lot of match-up zone concepts which start as a zone coverage but then ask their coverage players to plaster their receiver with man-to-man concepts. Wallace did this very well and match-up zone has been a staple coverage for the Steelers for years. Wallace could stand to make more big plays, but he is remarkably consistent in staying in phase with opposing receivers and rarely is caught far off his assigned player. He’s sticky. 

Earlier this month, NFL.com used its Next Gen Stats to rank the 10 best cover men in the NFL last year. Wallace finished eighth-overall by those metrics. He played his best football in 2021. 

What is very interesting about how the Steelers handled their cornerback situation this offseason. They gave Ahkello Witherspoon the exact same contract as Wallace. Witherspoon has one more year of NFL experience, but, like Wallace, is only 27. 

When the defense has just two cornerbacks on the field, it is likely to be Cameron Sutton and either Wallace or Witherspoon. But for most of the Steelers' defensive snaps, we should expect Wallace and Witherspoon as the outside cornerbacks and Sutton bumped into the slot. 

This isn’t set in stone, and the Steelers also could utilize Damontae Kazee as a slot defender who is better against the run than Sutton. Pure slot corner Arthur Maulet also is still in the equation, and the versatility that second-year player Tre Norwood brings to the equation also could give the Steelers added options from the slot or in a variety of uses. 

Of this group, Wallace and Witherspoon are the two true outside cornerbacks by trade. 

Might the Steelers still consider bringing back Haden to add leadership and another outside option? 

They certainly have the salary cap space to pull off that cost-effective signing and it would make some sense. But as it stands, Wallace and Witherspoon look rather entrenched in their roles.

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