When David Wallis showed up at the Patriots’ rookie minicamp on a tryout basis, he looked like an extreme long shot to make the roster. He may not be anymore.
Wallis, who played an undrafted receiver at Randolph-Macon College in Division III, returned a kickoff 53 yards in Thursday night’s preseason game against the Eagles. That comes after a 23-yard punt return last week, and if the Patriots decide to keep someone solely for his potential in the return game, Wallis could be that someone.
After Wallis’s preseason game last week, head coach Jerod Mayo made a point of saying how impressed he has been.
“He did a great job,” Mayo said of Wallis. “He’s back there catching punts and things like that, he’s an explosive player. He’s had a pretty good camp. He’s a hard guy to cover. . . . He’s a hard worker and that’s all you can ask for.”
The new kickoff rule has teams re-evaluating how they pick the special teams players on their roster. Wallis is still a long shot to make the roster, but he’s making a case for himself with 11 days to go until the Patriots have to cut their roster down to 53 players.
