Last season, the Pittsburgh Steelers ran perilously thin at the inside linebacker position down the stretch with season-ending injuries to both Kwon Alexander and Cole Holcomb in back-to-back weeks. They made a big move in free agency to stabilize the position with Patrick Queen, but it appears they are showing interest in continuing to add to the position in the 2024 NFL Draft. The University of Kentucky pro day happened today and Steelers ILB coach Aaron Curry was spotted in some of the footage coming from the event.
Lex 18 News’ Sierra Newton posted a clip with footage from the event on X, and about 33 seconds into the video, Wallace is working on some positional drills with Curry leading. Per our pro day tracking, Curry was not far away two days prior at Ohio State’s pro day where he would have been getting a closer look at Tommy Eichenberg. The position coaches aren’t spotted too often on the pro day trail, some more than others, but when they are present at the event it signals some obvious interest in particular players from each program.
Wallace has a sturdy build at 6012, 244 pounds and posted some impressive testing numbers at the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine, including a 4.51-second 40-yard dash and a 37.5-inch vertical jump. He also has nice length with nearly 33-inch arms.
Wallace was also present at the combine and the Senior Bowl, where the Steelers would have had opportunities to meet with him in some form or fashion. As with Travis Glover at Georgia State who had assistant OL coach Isaac Williams put him through drills at his pro day, a pre-draft visit could be coming sometime soon if the interest is really there.
The interest in the ILB position for the Steelers could signal some trouble ahead for Holcomb. There have been no real updates, and it was a pretty major knee injury. As recently as at the combine, GM Omar Khan said they are optimistic he comes back at some point, but it is early in the process to know. Though in positive news, Holcomb recently posted a workout video, so he is clearly hard at work rehabbing and staying in shape where he can.
Our Josh Carney posted an in-depth scouting report on Wallace and placed him in the fifth round of the draft. Here is part of his conclusion on Wallace:
“He needs to land in a situation where he doesn’t have to play right away and can develop behind a strong defensive line, learning how to attack downhill against blockers, slip blocks, shoot gaps and make plays at or behind the line of scrimmage. Though he has the athleticism to play in coverage, he’s going to need to be in more of a zone-heavy scheme early on while he continues to develop his skill set in man coverage.”
Here is additional footage of Wallace’s workout from the event, posted by Bluegrass Scorecard on YouTube.
