Denver Broncos: Aaron Wallace offers upside as a pass rusher

The Denver Broncos signed former UCLA pass rusher and Titans seventh-round pick Aaron Wallace. What does he bring to the table?

The Denver Broncos got a head start on their reserve/future signings by bringing a pair of young players in to replace the injured Phillip Lindsay and Andre Holmes. Those players are outside linebacker Aaron Wallace and cornerback Horace Richardson.

Neither player is expected to play in the Broncos’ season finale as they were signed late in the week. These are moves made with eyes on the future, but they are significant as the Broncos decided to bring these specific players in now as opposed to waiting to sign them as out-of-house reserve/future players.

The first player we’re going to look at is Wallace, a former seventh-round draft pick of the Tennessee Titans (222nd overall in 2016) who played his college football at UCLA.

Wallace at a Glance

Height: 6-foot-2
Weight: 242 pounds
College: UCLA
40-yard dash: 4.57
Bench press: 25 reps
Vertical jump: 36 inches

You can check out some of Wallace’s college highlights here. If nothing else, after watching that tape the Broncos should keep Wallace handy in case they ever play against Jared Goff again because Goff undoubtedly still has nightmares about this guy.

Looking at Wallace’s measurables, it’s clear this is a uniquely talented athlete. He has all of the requisite measurements to be successful in the NFL especially as a pass rusher, where his 4.57-second 40-yard dash and 1.58-second 10-yard split are incredible.

Von Miller’s 10-yard split was 1.59.

No one is saying Wallace, who has been in the NFL now for three years and bounced to a couple of different teams, is Von Miller. However, his athletic traits are incredibly impressive and there were some interesting things written about him in this scouting report from NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein.

Here’s a quick snippet of what I’m talking about:

"SOURCES TELL US “Completely different player from the BYU game to the USC game. He has some talent but he’s like a sophomore in terms of his linebacker instincts. I don’t know if that will change with experience or not.” — NFC West scout (emphasis mine)"

If Wallace was ‘like a sophomore’ in terms of his ability to play the position, then developmentally, three years later, he’s really a ‘rookie’ at least from where this specific NFC West scout gauged him at that point.

At UCLA, he was thrust into a starting role his final season due to injuries and made some plays based purely on his talent, but his game lacked overall refinement. Still, to pop up on the highlight reel as often as he did, there’s something there with this kid.

In the 2017 preseason for the Titans (after playing 10 games his rookie season), Wallace graded out very high as a pass rusher with 10 total pressures and two sacks in limited action (less than 100 snaps).

He’s been developing for the past month-plus on Cincinnati’s practice squad, and the Broncos poached him at the last minute. They likely waited to make these moves to see if they would have to outbid another team for any players on their own practice squad.

Why this move makes sense

The Broncos are set to lose both Shane Ray and Shaquil Barrett to unrestricted free agency this offseason. If that ends up being the case, Wallace is an intriguing player who will now get the entire offseason to work with the team instead of having to wait until March when the other reserve/future players come in.

The Broncos have done an amazing job with Reggie Herring and DeMarcus Ware this season getting the team back into the top five in the NFL in sacks. If the team’s relationship with Ware continues into the future, Wallace can look forward to some of the best coaching he could possibly ask for to fine-tune his game.

Without overreacting to the guy’s pure athleticism and upside, I really like this move for the Broncos.