Eagles Select Safety K'Von Wallace

The Clemson safety is good on the back end but also as a slot-type cornerback in nickel and dime defenses

Late Friday night, the Eagles added a linebacker to their defense.

On Saturday, with the first of their three fourth-round picks, the went with a safety, adding Clemson’s K’Von Wallace, who is 5-11, 206 pounds.

Here is Lance Zierlein’s overview on NFL.com:

“While he played some safety and a lot of big nickel in 2019, his biggest impact came when cutting it loose as a downhill blitzer, disrupting the run and smashing quarterbacks. Wallace plays with exceptional grit and tenacity. 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.”

Wallace had at least one interception in all four seasons at Clemson, including two last year.

Both of his career sacks came last year.

Wallace should be able to carve a niche fairly quickly in defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz’s defense.

He is the sort of new breed of safety who can play on the back end but is very effective at playing in the box as a nickel-type corner in a nickel or dime defense. Wallace is considered a strong tackler and good at diagnosing routes.

Wallace will be added to the team’s current inventory of safeties that includes Rodney McLeod, Jalen Mills, Will Parks, Marcus Epps, and Rudy Ford.
As for the third-round pick late Friday night, the Eagles took Colorado’s Davion Taylor, who is 6-3 and exceptionally fast.

“We're not drafting this guy in the third round because we don't think he's going to be a serious contributor in his rookie contract,” said Eagles GM Howie Roseman about Taylor. “We're certainly hoping that he's going to get out on the field as quickly as possible. The defensive staff coach is really excited about him, and we also think he can be a difference-maker on special teams.”