The Pittsburgh Steelers have several new additions to their 2022 team, with a few of those players being on defensive side of football. Cornerback Levi Wallace is one of those players, and that now means his wrapping up his first few OTA practices with his new team. He has, however, been around long enough to get a good feel for his new team.
“One, I love how together everybody is thus far, that I’ve learned,” Wallace said, according to a video on Steelers.com. “Just the grittiness. They play with, you know, they’re always trying to be the same page. They overcommunicate, which I really love.”
Wallace also said that there is something that has stick out to him as well when it comes to his new teammates.
“And, you know, there’s no egos in the room, which I can really appreciate, Wallace said. “So, it’s been good, great group of guys.”
Wallace was immediately asked to describe how much of a difference it makes when there are no egos to have to deal with.
“It makes the biggest difference,” Wallace said. “You know, you go to the goal that we’re just here trying to win. You know what I mean? That we all support each other. And I think I learned that specifically during 2020, during COVID. You know, where guys are in and out, you never know who’s playing, who’s up, who’s sick, who’s down. The standard has to stay the standard. You know, whoever’s starting, whoever’s backups, even third string, you know, you never know that week. And so, I think I’ve learned that that’s the biggest lesson, knowing that everyone’s on the same page, everybody wants everybody to be successful and kind of go from there.”
Overall, the Steelers’ defensive back room hasn’t changed very much this offseason. In fact, the Steelers re-signed cornerbacks Ahkello Witherspoon and Arthur Maulet as well as safeties Terrell Edmunds and Miles Killebrew. That continuity in that room should help the new members in it, Wallace, and safety Damontae Kazee, get up to speed quickly, especially with the overcommunicating aspect evidently being present.
“Yeah, I think it’s the biggest thing for me,” Wallace said of the communication. “You know, it’s learning new signals. You know, everyone runs the same defense and the same play calls and stuff. It’s all about the communication and the verbiage of the plays. And so, for me, that’s the biggest thing coming into this defense and I’m picking up pretty well, but you know, there’s always some tweaks that you can continue to learn from.”
While it will likely take Wallace a little bit longer to get fully up to speed with the rest of the members of the defense because of his being one of the new players on the team, he doesn’t sound a bit overwhelmed at the task at hand and knows that OTAs are designed to start the process.
“I think it’s a little newer,” Wallace said. “You know what I mean? First time I’ve moved teams, but it’s been good thus far. It really has. You know, I think the team has embraced me. The DB room’s a great group of guys. And, yeah, just learning the scheme, you know, new plays and stuff. So, it’s just getting to the groove, feeling my way through the defense.”
