Vikings Beef Up Defensive Secondary with Latest Signing
The Vikings beefed up the secondary with the latest move.
No, the team didn’t address the corner spot and nor did they add someone to the 53-man roster. Instead, a veteran was scooped up to finish off the practice squad. Per the team’s official social media, Minnesota has brought safety K’Von Wallace to town. He’ll be working in the Twin Cities, capable of being called up to the game day roster at a moment’s notice.
Vikings Beef Up Secondary with K’Von Wallace
Start off with the basics.
Mr. Wallace has been relying on the NFL as his place of employment since 2020. Philadelphia took him in the 4th after a college career at Clemson. The safety who stands at 5’11” and 205 pounds put up a 4.53 forty alongside 18 reps on the bench press.
The NFL’s website offered an analysis of him going into that draft, suggesting that he should get picked in the 5th. “Wallace plays with exceptional grit and tenacity,” Lance Zierlein writes. “He unloads with everything he’s got on hit after hit. His hips may be too tight to hold up in man coverage and he lacks range as a high safety. He’s a potential backup safety capable of playing near the line and helping on special teams.”
Since being an Eagle, K’Von Wallace has been around the NFL.
Indeed, his opening trio of seasons all took place in the City of Brotherly Love. He then went on to put in work for the Titans, Cardinals, Seahawks, and Giants. His journey has resulted in him now becoming a Viking, if only on the practice squad (at least to begin).
Something to note is that the team’s newest addition has a history of moving around a defense.
His career has involved being a free safety for a good portion of his on-field work. More specifically, Wallace has lined up deep for 739 snaps. Next up is being a box safety for 491 snaps and a slot corner for 198 snaps. Rounding things out are 38 snaps along the d-line while also having 17 as a wide corner.
An important detail to remember about Coach Flores: he doesn’t care too much about someone’s official position and what someone is supposed to do from that position.
Indeed, Flores is more than willing to task his edge rushers with coverage responsibilities if they’re capable of doing so. He’ll ask a safety like Josh Metellus — someone who works very hard and who understands the game at a high level — to line up all over the defense. Goodness, if Jonathan Allen proved capable of being a boundary corner who could lock down Ja’Marr Chase, then I assume Flores would task the veteran DT with doing so.
In theory, K’Von Wallace could soak up some snaps as a corner. Previous experience suggests that operating from the slot is the likeliest outcome but that’s going to be decided by the player, coach, and broader roster needs.
Essentially a journeyman, Wallace finds himself in a reasonably good spot. He’s working for a defensive coordinator who has proven to have a knack for pushing players higher in their game while being unafraid of giving hearty workloads to previously overlooked talents. The thinness of the secondary is yet another reason why Wallace could be feeling good about landing in Minnesota.
One more thing: Wallace has been a special teams player for 966 snaps. Matt Daniels, perhaps, will find a way to use the new addition.
K’Von Wallace has been involved in 71 games in his career, starting 19. He has earned 168 tackles, 8 passes defended, 1 interception, 1 forced fumble, 2 tackles for loss, and 1 QB hit.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference, PFF, and Over the Cap helped with this piece.
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