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Can Levi Wallace Stabilize the Starting CB Position Opposite Tre' White?


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Buffalo Bills cornerback Levi Wallace may be the latest in a line of unsuspecting players to have solid performances during Sean McDermott’s tenure as the team’s head coach.

 

The cornerback spot opposite Tre’Davious White has been a revolving door of mediocre defensive backs for the Bills in 2018. The Bills have watched several players come and go, including Vontae Davis and Phillip Gaines. Ryan Lewis has also been a part of the starting secondary in the past.

 

This come a season after Buffalo allowed EJ Gaines to skip town to Cleveland as a free agent.

 

For the moment, it looks like the Wallace will make his name permanent in the starting lineup.

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I hope he works out, these young guys know they will be tested because teams are not dumb enough to try and throw at Tre.  I still want us to draft another corner fairly high in 2019 because I think we need help and you can never have too many good corners.   

 

Wallace is long and lean hopefully he does well. 

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I think Wallace has all the tools to be a solid starting CB. Let him play and see how he responds. At this point experience may be all he needs.

 

Either way between White, Johnson, and hopefully Wallace and Lewis too, the CB position looks very stout at the moment. 

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4 minutes ago, Magox said:

The guys has overachieved and overcome all obstacles that have come his way throughout his football life.  I think there is a chance that he could be another diamond in the rough and appears to be a gamer.

 

yeah i was posting in another thread about him, he's a gamer with a tough back story who approaches the game  with a ton of discipline.  For what it's worth I think he's the exact sort of player that McD wants to cultivate

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It's too early to tell, but it certainly is a good think to wish for.  We'll need to see how he holds up against the bigger receivers and better offenses.  I am a little worried about his strength against a large receiver due to his slight build, but he is a hard worker who may find ways to overcome that.  fingers crossed!

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I love guys with a chip on their shoulder and as a walk on at #1 Alabama this kid knows how to fight for what is his spot.

BTW when Gaines was stinking out the joint a few weeks ago I posted that they needed to give this kid a chance.

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I think between he and Taron Johnson we are starting to look pretty good at CB. The defense as a whole looks pretty good in general outside of some depth and maybe another top tier edge rusher. We will need to re-sign Lorax in the offseason, Jordan Phillips imo, and Kyle if he wants to return. Despite all of the fire everyone threads I believe we are headed in the right direction. 

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I really like Levi and thought he played quite well. he knows how to use his length and things of like that. My only concern going forward is his strength. He needs to add some weight and strength to his frame. It looked a little like he was having some trouble getting off of blocks in the run game. That will likely be a priority for him going forward. I don't doubt him for one second. He has proved many people wrong so many times. Really rooting for him. 

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I like the kid but he strikes me as quality depth more than a CB2 opposite Tre. 

 

Very good ball skills and instincts but smallish frame may pose problems against larger and more physical receivers on the outside and would offer little in run support. I can see him excelling in nickel/dime packages on passing situations. Reminds me a lot of Robey when he was here.

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1 hour ago, billsbackto81 said:

I like the kid but he strikes me as quality depth more than a CB2 opposite Tre. 

 

Very good ball skills and instincts but smallish frame may pose problems against larger and more physical receivers on the outside and would offer little in run support. I can see him excelling in nickel/dime packages on passing situations. Reminds me a lot of Robey when he was here.

 

I think if nothing else between him and Johnson and maybe Lewis, the team has good solid depth

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The youth on the defense is pretty amazing: 

 

First and 2nd year players: Tre White, Levi Wallace, Taron Johnson, Matt Milano, Tremaine Edmunds, Harrison Phillips

Shaq Lawson is in year 3 and is 24. 

Trent Murphy, Poyer and Hyde are 27, Jordan Phillips (they should re-sign him) is 26.

 

That's 10 players that probably haven't hit their prime. Jerry Hughes is 30 but seems to have a few years left. 

 

Kyle Williams and Lorenzo Alexander are at the end of their careers but with the 11 listed above you're hopefully only looking for 1 starter (LB) and a rotational guy for Kyle if Phillips and Phillips can step up. 

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2 hours ago, chris heff said:

So you think that Vonte Davis and Phillip Gaines were good FA signings?

No, but this isn't a cover 1 team.  The design of the defense protects CBs, so you don't need the equivalent of a franchise QB at CB to have a successful defense.

 

McDemott can screw up the CB2 position the next 5 years, and the Bills could still have a top 5 defense each of those years.

 

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2 hours ago, chris heff said:

So you think that Vonte Davis and Phillip Gaines were good FA signings?

No.....but do you really think we have a corner problem?

 

If we had a corner problem we would not have a top 10 defense.....McD literally finds these guys in the dumpster bin

5 minutes ago, Perry Turtle said:

No, but this isn't a cover 1 team.  The design of the defense protects CBs, so you don't need the equivalent of a franchise QB at CB to have a successful defense.

 

McDemott can screw up the CB2 position the next 5 years, and the Bills could still have a top 5 defense each of those years.

 

Exactly.....and  you dont spend big money on the postion because we have a shutdown corner in white...which means we need to find someone LIKE Wallace who can hold his own.

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12 minutes ago, Over 29 years of fanhood said:

40 time scares me, maybe he’s faster now? Seem like he was a late bloomer 

Yeah, his 40 time wasn't anything to write home about. But, sometimes instinct & anticipation can make up for a 10th of a second.

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14 minutes ago, billykay said:

Yeah, his 40 time wasn't anything to write home about. But, sometimes instinct & anticipation can make up for a 10th of a second.

 

Maybe he's bad at running 40s and maybe as you say he can do zone just fine based on other attributes. 

 

But for perspective 3 D Linemen beat 4.63 in just this years combine. 

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18 minutes ago, billykay said:

Yeah, his 40 time wasn't anything to write home about. But, sometimes instinct & anticipation can make up for a 10th of a second.

Well, I read that his 40 was 4.63.  How in the world do you keep up?  Was he maybe recovering from some sort of injury?

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47 minutes ago, billykay said:

Yeah, his 40 time wasn't anything to write home about. But, sometimes instinct & anticipation can make up for a 10th of a second.

 

27 minutes ago, Over 29 years of fanhood said:

 

Maybe he's bad at running 40s and maybe as you say he can do zone just fine based on other attributes. 

 

But for perspective 3 D Linemen beat 4.63 in just this years combine. 

 

Levi is just one of those guys who will never test well. That's why he was a walk one and and why he went undrafted. But he is surely a gamer who people will always underestimate. I dot know that he is truly a starting corner in this league, but I will not dare doubt him and I will be cheering every step of the way. 

 

He's still faster than Josh Norman. I'm actually more concerned with Levi's bulk than his speed. 

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47 minutes ago, MrEpsYtown said:

 

 

Levi is just one of those guys who will never test well. That's why he was a walk one and and why he went undrafted. But he is surely a gamer who people will always underestimate. I dot know that he is truly a starting corner in this league, but I will not dare doubt him and I will be cheering every step of the way. 

 

He's still faster than Josh Norman. I'm actually more concerned with Levi's bulk than his speed. 

 

Im all for it ?

 

wouldn't be be the first guy that didn’t measure up but succeeds in the right system 

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2 hours ago, Over 29 years of fanhood said:

40 time scares me, maybe he’s faster now? Seem like he was a late bloomer 

I wouldn't worry too much about how quickly he can run 40 yards in a straight line. Never felt the 40 was truly all that demonstrative of a players speed, not useless, but not something to be concerned over. I'd be more concerned with how quickly he can accelerate AND change direction AND sustain it for more than/less than 40 yards, and how well he can read routes and anticipate. McD's defense is primarily zone based anyway, but plenty of "slower" DBs in the league make it work. 

 

He did go undrafted so it's not like we'll be seeing top metrics from him anyway - it's just about how he develops now.

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Loved him at Bama last year and was hoping we'd use a mid rounder on him. We got Taron Johnson in the 4th and Levi Wallace as an UDFA. Hoping he sticks. 

 

On a random note don't be too surprised if the Bills use their 1st rounder on a CB this year. You're going to see Greedy Williams being mocked to us a lot. 

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43 minutes ago, FeelingOnYouboty said:

Loved him at Bama last year and was hoping we'd use a mid rounder on him. We got Taron Johnson in the 4th and Levi Wallace as an UDFA. Hoping he sticks. 

 

On a random note don't be too surprised if the Bills use their 1st rounder on a CB this year. You're going to see Greedy Williams being mocked to us a lot. 

 

I have already seen this in a few early mocks.

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4 hours ago, FeelingOnYouboty said:

Loved him at Bama last year and was hoping we'd use a mid rounder on him. We got Taron Johnson in the 4th and Levi Wallace as an UDFA. Hoping he sticks. 

 

On a random note don't be too surprised if the Bills use their 1st rounder on a CB this year. You're going to see Greedy Williams being mocked to us a lot. 

I would HATE using a first rounder on a corner when we have a lock down corner already and so many needs on offense

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