Philadelphia Eagles: Why add John Johnson when you have K’Von Wallace?

When news broke that the Philadelphia Eagles were among the suitors for the top strong safety on the free agency market, John Johnson III, it left many a fan scratching their head.

Sure, one half of the Eagles’ starting safety tandem, Jalen Mills, was set to hit the open market and the idea of landing an experienced difference maker made sense, but how exactly were the Eagles going to afford to sign the Boston College product? Was he planning on working for free?

And yet, despite the team’s cap woes, the narrative was pushed that Johnson very well could have closed out the first day of the NFL’s legal tampering window with a tentative agreement to don the midnight green in the not too distant future.

Fortunately- or not, depending on your opinion – that no longer appears to be the case, as Johnson III has officially agreed to a massive three-year, $33.75 million deal with the Cleveland Browns, who reportedly made him their free agency priority.

Should the Eagles have pushed harder for Johnson? I guess only time will tell, but with his services already spoken for, the pressure is on for K’Von Wallace to live up to his draft weekend hype.

Can K’Von Wallace replace Jalen Mills as the Philadelphia Eagles’ strong safety?

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Whether the Philadelphia Eagles opt to start John Johnson III, Jalen Mills, Marcus Epps, or some other safety not currently on the roster, it’s (probably) not going to have too much of an effect on the team’s overall record.

Is that a pessimist take? Most definitely, but in the NFL, where no one position save quarterback can change a team’s fortunes all that drastically, it’s unfortunately true: No individual safety will fix the Eagles’ defense if the rest of the secondary stinks and even the worst box safety can be glossed over when surrounded by 10 other talented players.

So, with that concept in mind, why would the Eagles sign a strong safety for $11ish million a year when they could instead give their highest touted prospect, K’Von Wallace, a full season to sink or swim a la Jalen Hurts on the offensive side of the ball?

Like Hurts, Wallace is a college national champion who came highly recommended by his college coaches and teammates. Though he wasn’t selected until two rounds – or 74 picks – after Hurts, Wallace was dubbed one of the biggest steals of the 2020 NFL Draft by pundits local and not, all the while capturing the hearts of Philly fans with his infectious social media presence.

Though he was slated to join a crowded defensive backfield, many still assumed Wallace would at the very least immediately slot in as the Eagles’ third safety behind Rodney McLeod and Jalen Mills and may even challenge NRC and CreVon LeBlanc for some snaps in the slot.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.

Again like Hurts, Wallace was used sparingly over the first half of the 2020 regular season and didn’t start getting serious playing time until the waning contests of a rapidly devolving season. Wallace finished out the year with 202 overall defensive snaps- versus 221 on special teams – 21 tackles, a forced fumble, and three starts to close out an otherwise underwhelming rookie campaign.

So what gives? Did Wallace not come as advertised? Or were the Eagles just so deep at safety and corner that the Virginia native just couldn’t find a home?

Honestly, your guess is as good as mine.

Maybe the Eagles, then in an all-out blitz to make the playoffs felt like playing older vets, even ones who weren’t all that much better than their young guys put the team in a better position to succeed?  That’s why Alhson Jeffrey kept stealing snaps away from Travis Fulgham, and largely why Alex Singleton sat behind Duke Riley and Nate Gerry for much of the regular season.  With many of those players now gone, could the Eagles’ new coaching staff turn their attention to playing young, ascending players as they look to find their NFL footing?

Then again, when Wallace actually did see the field it’s not like he is a particularly effective player.

Call it a logical byproduct of being a rookie with no training camp in sporadic usage, but Wallace made mistakes in pretty much every facet of the game in 2020 from tackling to coverage assignments and even on special teams.  While again much of that is to be expected, it’s pretty telling that everyone from Kavon Seymour to Michael Jacquet and even now-Jaguars safety Rudy Ford were tasked with taking snaps on the outside against Dallas in Week 16 over a highly-touted fourth round pick that many assumed could be a Day 1 starter in the slot.

But now, with no expensive free agent safety to block his path to the field, Wallace will surely have a chance to compete for a role in the Eagles’ defense moving forward… assuming, of course, the team doesn’t draft a player like Trevon Moehrig-Woodard at the top of the second round.

Whether K’Von Wallace becomes the next Malcolm Jenkins – a do-it-all defensive leader both on and off the field – the second coming of 2017 Patrick Robinson, or proves to be just a guy at the safety position, the Philadelphia Eagles owe it to themselves to find out by getting the 23-year-old on the field as much as possible in a season focused on player evaluation. If he works out, great, the team may have a long-term starter for the next decade. And if he falters? Well, there are always big-name safeties on the free agent market who would love to sign eight-digit deals.