Levi Wallace

Levi Wallace (born June 12, 1995) is an American football cornerback for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Alabama.

This article is about the American football player. For the politician, see Levi Wallace (politician).

Levi Wallace
refer to caption
Wallace with the Buffalo Bills in 2021
No. 29 – Pittsburgh Steelers
Position:Cornerback
Personal information
Born: (1995-06-12) June 12, 1995
Tucson, Arizona, U.S.
Height:6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight:179 lb (81 kg)
Career information
High school:Tucson
College:Alabama
Undrafted:2018
Career history
Roster status:Active
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics as of Week 18, 2022
Total tackles:267
Fumble recoveries:1
Pass deflections:43
Interceptions:10
Player stats at NFL.com · PFR

Early years

Wallace attended Tucson High School in Tucson, Arizona, where he played football and track and field. Wallace committed to the University of Alabama to play college football.[1]

College career

Wallace did not see any action during his freshman and sophomore years at Alabama. He earned a walk-on scholarship before his junior year in 2016. In 6 games, Wallace totaled 11 tackles.[2] During his senior year, Wallace started in 14 games. He was a starter during the 2018 College Football Playoff National Championship game, where Alabama won in overtime over Georgia, 26-23. Wallace totaled 48 tackles and caught 3 interceptions in his senior year.[3]

Professional career
Pre-draft measurables
HeightWeightArm lengthHand span40-yard dash10-yard split20-yard split20-yard shuttleThree-cone drillVertical jump
6 ft 0+1⁄4 in
(1.84 m)		 179 lb
(81 kg)		 32+3⁄4 in
(0.83 m)		 9+3⁄8 in
(0.24 m)		4.63 s1.67 s2.57 s4.26 s6.91 s33 in
(0.84 m)
All values from NFL Combine/Alabama’s Pro Day[4]

2018 season

On May 1, 2018, the Buffalo Bills signed Wallace to a three-year, $1.71 million contract as an undrafted free agent.[5] Throughout training camp, Wallace competed for a roster spot as a backup cornerback against Taron Johnson, Ryan Carter, Breon Borders, and Lafayette Pitts.[6] On September 1, 2018, the Buffalo Bills waived Wallace as part of their final roster cuts, but signed him to their practice squad the following day.[7]

On November 6, 2018, the Buffalo Bills promoted Wallace from their practice squad to the active roster after releasing Phillip Gaines.[8] On November 11, 2018, Wallace made his professional regular season debut and first career start and made one tackle and a pass deflection during a 41-10 victory at the New York Jets in Week 10.[9] In Week 16, he collected a season-high eight combined tackles during a 24-12 loss at the New England Patriots.[10] He finished his rookie season in 2018 with 37 combined tackles (24 solo) and three pass deflections in seven games and seven starts.[11] Wallace received an overall grade of 83.5 from Pro Football Focus, which ranked fifth among all qualifying cornerbacks in 2018.[12] He also received the highest grade among all rookie cornerbacks.[13]

2019 season

Wallace was named a starting cornerback to begin the season, opposite Tre'Davious White.[14] Following an inconsistent start to the season, Wallace eventually saw his playing time reduced in favor of Kevin Johnson.[15] In week 15, Wallace caught his first career interception against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday Night Football, picking off Devlin Hodges to seal a 17–10 Bills victory in the final moments to help Buffalo clinch a playoff berth.[16] In the regular season finale against the New York Jets, Wallace logged another interception off Sam Darnold, but suffered a sprained ankle on the play,[17] which kept him out of the Bills' playoff game against the Houston Texans.[18]

2020 season

On April 2, 2020, Wallace was re-signed to a one-year contract by the Bills, regaining his starting position despite the team signing veteran cornerback Josh Norman. In Week 3 against the Los Angeles Rams, Wallace recorded his first interception of the season during the 35–32 win. [19] Wallace injured his ankle the following week against the Las Vegas Raiders and was ruled out the rest of the game.[20] He was placed on injured reserve on October 7, 2020.[21] He was activated on October 31.[22] He was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list on November 14, 2020,[23] and activated on November 19.[24] In Week 14 against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday Night Football, Wallace intercepted a pass thrown by Ben Roethlisberger late in the fourth quarter to secure a 26–15 win for the Bills.[25]

In the Divisional Round of the playoffs against the Baltimore Ravens, Wallace recorded one sack on Lamar Jackson during the 17–3 win.[26]

2021 season

Wallace re-signed with the Bills on a one-year contract on March 26, 2021.[27][28] He became the top cornerback on the roster after White suffered a torn ACL in week 12 and missed the rest of the season, but Buffalo still finished the year with the league's top passing defense despite White's injury. Wallace, in particular, allowed just a 72.6 passer rating when targeted by opposing quarterbacks.[29]

Pittsburgh Steelers

On March 17, 2022, the Pittsburgh Steelers signed Wallace to a two-year, $8 million contract that includes a signing bonus of $2.96 million.[30][31]

References
  1. "Levi Wallace - 2017 Football Roster - Alabama Athletics". rolltide.com. Retrieved November 12, 2018.
  2. "Levi Wallace 2016 Game Log | College Football at Sports-Reference.com". sports-reference.com. Retrieved November 12, 2018.
  3. "Levi Wallace 2017 Game Log | College Football at Sports-Reference.com". sports-reference.com. Retrieved November 12, 2018.
  4. "NFL Draft Profile: Levi Wallace". NFL.com. Retrieved January 4, 2019.
  5. "Spotrac.com: Levi Wallace contract". Spotrac.com. Retrieved January 4, 2019.
  6. "2018 Buffalo Bills scouting report: cornerback Levi Wallace". buffalorumblings.com. July 7, 2018. Retrieved January 4, 2019.
  7. "Buffalo Bills add eight recent cuts to practice squad including Dean Marlowe, Keith Ford". Buffalo Rumblings. Retrieved November 12, 2018.
  8. "Buffalo Bills call up cornerback Levi Wallace". al.com. Retrieved November 12, 2018.
  9. "Bills' Levi Wallace: Earns start in NFL debut". CBSSports.com. Retrieved November 12, 2018.
  10. "NFL Player stats: Levi Wallace (2018)". NFL.com. Retrieved January 4, 2019.
  11. "NFL Player stats: Levi Wallace (career)". NFL.com. Retrieved January 4, 2019.
  12. "Pro Football Focus: Levi Wallace". profootballfocus.com. Retrieved January 4, 2019.
  13. Skurski, Jay (January 2, 2019). "Levi Wallace finishes 2018 as Pro Football Focus' top rookie cornerback". The Buffalo News. Retrieved January 3, 2019.
  14. Wolf, Jason (September 28, 2019). "Bills' Levi Wallace: From no scholarship to national champ, undrafted to NFL starter". The Buffalo News. Retrieved December 18, 2019.
  15. Skarekrow (November 21, 2019). "All-22 analysis: Buffalo Bills corner Levi Wallace". Buffalo Rumblings. Retrieved December 18, 2019.
  16. Kelly, David (December 16, 2019). "Wallace's pick seals playoff trip for Bills". KVOA. Retrieved December 18, 2019.
  17. Talbot, Ryan (December 30, 2019). "NFL Playoffs: Buffalo Bills CB Levi Wallace day-to-day with ankle sprain (report)". syracuse. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
  18. Skurski, Jay (January 4, 2020). "Levi Wallace out for Bills against Texans; Duke Williams active over Robert Foster". The Buffalo News. Retrieved January 7, 2020.
  19. "Los Angeles Rams at Buffalo Bills - September 27th, 2020". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved September 28, 2020.
  20. Louis-Jacques, Marcel (October 4, 2020). "Bills CB Wallace ruled out due to ankle injury". ESPN.com. Retrieved October 5, 2020.
  21. "Bills promote CB Cam Lewis to the 53-man roster; Wallace placed on IR". BuffaloBills.com. October 7, 2020.
  22. "Bills activate CB Levi Wallace; elevate CB Dane Jackson". BuffaloBills.com. October 31, 2020.
  23. Louis-Jacques, Marcel (November 14, 2020). "Bills CB Norman tests positive; 3 others on list". ESPN.com. Retrieved November 15, 2020.
  24. Alper, Josh (November 19, 2020). "Bills take Levi Wallace, Tyler Kroft, Dean Marlowe off COVID-19 list". NBCSports.com. Retrieved December 19, 2020.
  25. "Pittsburgh Steelers at Buffalo Bills - December 13th, 2020". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
  26. "Divisional Round - Baltimore Ravens at Buffalo Bills - January 16th, 2021". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
  27. Glab, Maddy (March 17, 2021). "Bills agree to terms with CB Levi Wallace". BuffaloBills.com. Retrieved March 27, 2021.
  28. "2021 NFL Transactions: Signings – March". NFL.com. Retrieved March 27, 2021.
  29. "Did Levi Wallace play his way out of Buffalo?". al. March 10, 2022. Retrieved March 17, 2022.
  30. "Wallace signed to two-year contract". www.steelers.com. Retrieved March 17, 2022.
  31. "Spotrac.com: Levi Wallace contract". Retrieved April 23, 2022.
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