Jermaine

Waller

Waller signed a contract with the Lions in May after going undrafted. He participated in both rookie minicamp and OTAs, but was not present at the team’s mandatory minicamp this week. The team announced on Wednesday that Waller has chosen to retire. Waller started 23 games during his career at Virginia Tech and led the team with four interceptions in 2021.

Waller (6’1/180) played heavily all four seasons for the Hokies, starting in 23 contests. He had his best season as a sophomore in 2019 topping out with a PFF grade of 84.5 in coverage with three interceptions and eight passes defended. His 2020 season was marred by a variety of injuries that limited him to just two starts. His 2021 was not a great rebound year, as his PFF grade dropped to 61.4 in coverage over 278 coverage snaps. His 4.68 40-yard dash is in the 15th percentile for corners and he scored a 3.79 Relative Athletic Score. He has been able to overcome that with physicality but he needs to clean up his penalties while handling better athletes in the NFL.