The Baltimore Ravens elevated K’Von Wallace from the practice squad on Saturday, making him available for their Week 3 matchup against the Dallas Cowboys in Brazil. The move might have many thinking: Another safety?
On paper, Baltimore’s safety room was already deep. They have what appears to be a formidable quartet of Kyle Hamilton, Malaki Starks, Jaylinn Hawkins, and Keondre Jackson. And while Starks and Hawkins have disappointed early, the talent is there.
However, Starks dealt with a hamstring problem throughout this past week of practice. He was a limited participant Wednesday and Thursday, and although he was a full participant Friday, it was a walkthrough. Bringing up Wallace could simply be Baltimore giving itself extra insurance entering Sunday’s game.
That does mean they’ll likely have five safeties, though.
Baltimore Ravens have plenty of ways to shuffle the safety deck with K’Von Wallace
On most teams, five safeties active on gameday would be far too many. In some cases, four might even be pushing it. The Ravens are different, though. They have an unusually versatile room.
The first two weeks have shown us Kyle Hamilton will play absolutely everywhere in Jesse Minter’s defense. Secondary, linebacker, defensive line; it doesn’t matter, Hamilton will patrol that area and do so at an exceptionally high level.
Hawkins can also move around if needed, most notably aligning as a deep safety and in the box.
That’s all notable. The reason? If Malaki Starks’ hamstring doesn’t allow him to handle a full workload, playing Hamilton, Hawkins, or even Keondre Jackson in his center field role could make some sense. And in that rotation, Wallace might become the reliable depth piece.
Hawkins and Starks also struggled in last week’s loss to the New Orleans Saints. Both were beaten several times in coverage and failed to wrap up in the open field. It’s really looking like the safety room isn’t what many thought it’d be coming into the season. With that in mind, Wallace may be in line to have an impact.
Wallace is a hybrid safety. He’s a physical defender who mostly plays down closer to the line of scrimmage, rotating between box and slot responsibilities. He’s another chess piece that Minter could use, giving the Ravens all the flexibility they need in the secondary.
If Minter wants to incorporate Wallace on defense throughout the matchup, he could use him downhill, while allowing Hamilton to move around the field like the positionless weapon he is.
Ideally, though, Wallace doesn’t see many snaps. In a perfect world, we only see him streaking across the field on special teams, while Starks can hopefully get back to business. And even if Starks plays sporadically, it’d be wise to let Jackson get some burn.
All offseason, Jackson has been hyped up by pretty much every coach on the staff. He’s been a particular favorite of defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver, who has constantly praised his energy, work ethic, and development over the past several months. He’s flashed as a special teams ace, but there may be an off-chance he sees his first real opportunity on the defensive side of the ball on Sunday.
Whichever way it plays out, Minter can truly do whatever he wants with those five safeties. It should create an endless possibility of looks against the Cowboys.
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