Vikings Newcomer Has Displayed a Specialty in “Smashing Quarterbacks”
Any NFL defender who proves capable of hitting a quarterback with regularity — legally, of course — is going to find employment for a long time.
To that end, the Vikings newcomer — safety K’Von Wallace — inspires at least some intrigue. He has been in the NFL since 2020, so maybe some of the shine has worn off of his potential. Nevertheless, there was a point when he was described as someone who possessed the ability to specialize in “smashing quarterbacks.”
Vikings Newcomer K’Von Wallace a Hard-Hitting Safety
Start off with the eye-catching description. The pair of words — “smashing quarterbacks” — arrives courtesy of Lance Zierlein.
He wrote of Wallace ahead of the 2020 NFL Draft: “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.”
A few details to draw out within that succinct scouting report.
Per Zierlein, Wallace isn’t going to shutdown the skies in the deep area of the field. Rather, Wallace is someone who does well coming forward, aggressively pursuing the runner or the passer. The ability to bring physicality as a fifth defensive back makes him an attractive option within a Brian Flores defense that often leans toward lighter players who can do multiple things well.
At present, Minnesota is relying on Harrison Smith, Josh Metellus, and Theo Jackson to be the top trio at safety. Some uncertainty enters the equation due to Smith being away nursing an injury. Otherwise, the roster boasts Tavierre Thomas (a veteran mostly around for specials) and Jay Ward (a younger player mostly around for specials).
Within that safety context is K’Von Wallace, someone who has a decent bit of NFL experience and who is still 28. His career résumé shows a player who has been involved in 71 games, starting 19. Adding onto his notable experience is the Super Bowl run that he participated in with the Eagles in 2022, invaluable experience.
When it comes to getting after the passer, Mr. Wallace’s numbers don’t jump off the page. He has a grand total of … zero sacks in his NFL career. Alongside that very modest total (hard to get more modest than a goose egg) is a single QB hit. So, was there a miss from the scouting report? Perhaps — no scout is perfect — but dig a little deeper.
It’s worth noting, folks, that K’Von Wallace has only been blitzed 19 times in his entire career. Contrast that total with Josh Metellus, someone who blitzed 56 times in 2024 alone and 91 times in 2023.
Wallace’s limited opportunities nevertheless gave way to healthy pass rush grades on PFF in 2020 (73.7) and 2022 (70.7). The Vikings newcomer could therefore be leaned on to come forward in the Flores defense.
He has seen his greatest allotment of defensive snaps in the deep area of the field. Wallace has been a free safety for 739 career snaps. The next closest assignment is being a box safety for 491 snaps. Quite possibly, that gets flipped around as Wallace works as a Viking.
Basically every coach will insist that they adjust their scheme to fit the players. Few do so in the way that Coach Flores does. Indeed, the strategist at DC has a knack for unlocking players, largely due to his willingness to empower his personnel to adjust to what they’re seeing and to be aggressive while doing so. Play free and fast, Flores seems to say with regularity.
In K’Von Wallace, the Vikings are unlikely to have found a game-changing talent. The possibility exists, though, that he ends up being valuable depth, especially if the journeyman ends up growing and improving under a DC who can allow him to lean into his most impactful abilities.
Mr. Wallace stands at 5’11” and weighs 205 pounds. He’s accounting for $315,000 on the team’s 2025 cap.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference, PFF, and Over the Cap helped with this piece.
