HOUSTON – K’Von Wallace ran to the football with intensity and purpose, tackling with striking power.
It was his defensive debut for the Texans and it was a strong performance against the Los Angeles Chargers. He recorded five tackles, one for a loss and three solos in a 20-16 victory at SoFi Stadium.
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Wallace, 28, has bounced around the NFL with six other teams prior to joining the Texans following a successful workout. Signed to the active roster last week, Wallace played the majority of the defensive snaps as the replacement for Myles Bryant. Wallace played 48 snaps for 76 percent of the defensive playing time.
He was the second-highest graded Texans defensive player with an 81.1 overall Pro Football Focus analytics grade and a 85.8 run-stop grade.
Wallace is listed first on the Texans’ unofficial depth chart and will likely be the primary safety against the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday opposite Calen Bullock. Rookie safety Jaylen Reed is nearly ready to return in the playoffs from forearm surgery to repair a broken metal plate.
The Texans have utilized a lot of safeties this season, including C.J. Gardner-Johnson, cut after a series of issues behind the scenes and now excelling with the Chicago Bears, M.J. Stewart, out for season with torn quadriceps, Reed, Bryant and, now, Wallace.
“K’von did a nice job with the reps that he was given,“ Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said. ”I thought he stepped in, communicated well all week. He’s been practicing pretty well for the past couple weeks, so he earned it by how he practiced, how he showed up, how he communicated. So, he stepped up in the game, made some nice tackles for us, made some nice plays. So, proud of what he was able to do for us.”
Wallace, 28, is a former Philadelphia Eagles fourth-round draft pick from Clemson.
Wallace (5-foot-11, 205 pounds) has also played for the Minnesota Vikings and New York Giants, the Seattle Seahawks, Tennessee Titans and the Arizona Cardinals.
He has recorded 173 career tackles and one interception with one fumble recovery in 73 games and 19 career starts.
“K’Von stepped in and did a nice job,” Ryans said. “Throughout the week, the past couple weeks, he’s done a great job of communicating in practice. He’s being where he’s supposed to be. T
“The communication piece is very vital to how we play defense. That’s where he impressed me throughout practice and he did a good job in the game of making some open field tackles, which we needed. We’ll see how he continues to progress.”
Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com