Philadelphia Eagles: It’s time for K’Von Wallace to get an honest chance

The Philadelphia Eagles need to see what they have in rookie safety K’Von Wallace.

A three-year starter at the University of Clemson, K’Von Wallace was one of the most intriguing safety prospects entering the 2020 NFL Draft. He showcased a ton of versatility during his time at the collegiate level, and his experience captaining one of the best college football programs in the world spoke volumes on his leadership qualities. When he fell to the Philadelphia Eagles in the fourth-round, it genuinely felt like a gift from above.

With Malcolm Jenkins departing, the Eagles had a serious need at the safety position, specifically at strong safety. While the team initially brought back Jalen Mills to play safety, along with now-released free agent Will Parks, the general consensus in the offseason was that Wallace was the heir to throne. His overall athleticism and upside screamed of someone who could blossom into an every down starter, sooner rather than later.

However, partly due to injury and partly due to an over-reliance on guys like Mills and Marcus Epps, Wallace really hasn’t gotten an honest look at safety this year. He’s made just one start (Week 4 against the Niners) and has only logged 53 total defensive snaps. He’s been relegated to that of a “special teamer” during four separate games, where his only game action came via punt/kick returns.

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Wallace did suffer a scary looking neck injury in Week 6 against Baltimore, but that ultimately only withheld from game action for one week. For the most part, Wallace’s lack of usage has solely been due to Jim Schwartz and his decision making.

While Wallace’s first 12 weeks of NFL action haven’t necessarily gone according to plan, there’s reason to believe he could see increased playing time moving forward. The Philadelphia Eagles quite randomly released Will Parks last week, opening up a void at the safety position. While Mills will likely remain the stereotypical *starter*, the Eagles quite frequently run three safety sets. This opens the door for a guy like Wallace – with his abundance of positional versatility – to slide in as an in-the-box hybrid safety.

With that said, Jim Schwartz has shown a multi-year affection for former waiver wire claim Marcus Epps. A sixth-round pick for the Vikings in 2019, Epps has been nestling his way into the Eagles defensive game-plan for awhile now, without ever actually producing on a statistical level.

While I’d love to sit here and say Wallace is unequivocally going to see a huge increase in snaps due to Parks’ departure, there’s a genuine shot that Epps is the big winner here. Obviously that *shouldn’t* be the case, but Schwartz has his own way of runnings things – and it’s normally his way or the highway.

Whatever the situation ends up being, the Philadelphia Eagles would be wise to throw Wallace into the deep end these last couple of games, and see what they really have in him. His success at Clemson leads me to believe he can be a really solid NFL starter, but there’s only one way to truly find out.