Senior Bowl: 5 Fringe 1st Rounders Who Can Solidify Their Draft Status

Quay Walker, LB, Georgia    Height: 6’4    Weight: 240 lbs

2021 Season Stats: (13 games)

65 total tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss

3 passes defended, 1.5 sacks

Best Performance: (vs Alabama 1/10/22)

8 total tackles, 1 tackle for loss

Best Traits: Body Control, Strength, Explosiveness

-Body Control: It is easy to get excited about Walker’s potential when you see how well he moves at his size. He is deliberate with his actions, using fluid hips and unusual bend off the edge. Walker also shows ability to defend running backs out of the backfield, as well as athletic tight ends that line up in the slot.

-Strength: Walker has an extraordinary frame and there is room to add even more weight to it when he gets into an NFL strength program. He already has legitimate strength to play on Sundays, though. Quay is quick to bring the big hit on running backs busting through the gap. He meets them and immediately stops them in their tracks. Walker does well getting off blocks, giving him an opportunity to impact the play on each snap.

-Explosiveness: The most remarkable thing about Quay as a prospect is that he’s just scratching the surface of what he could be. While he did not have notable production on the stat sheet, he had a nose for making momentum shifting plays. Whether it is stuffing a 3rd-and-1 run, staying on the hip of a pass catcher to knock down a pass, or pressuring the quarterback. Momentum cannot be quantified in numbers but Walker consistently set the tone for the Georgia defense. Ideally, he will land with a team that can help him produce more tangible statistics.

What to Improve: Development, Fundamentals, Play Recognition

-Development: Quay Walker has gobs and gobs of untapped potential. When you watch Quay, it is like watching a kid playing backyard football. It is endearing, in a sense, but goes to show how much progress needs to be made in the technical sense. He plays primarily off of energy and momentum. It will take work from both Walker and his eventual team to sculpt him into a finished product. He has been compared to Packers All-Pro LB De’Vondre Campbell.

-Fundamentals: Every red flag that Walker has can be placed under the umbrella of “rawness”. One particular part of his game that he can easily develop is the fundamentals. He needs to get better at following the process and doing the boring things. “Hero ball” is not a term often used for defenders, but Quay can get caught out of position by over-pursuing on certain plays. This is not acceptable at the NFL level and it must become a priority for him to improve upon.

-Play Recognition: Another important factor is diagnosing the play correctly and recognizing it before acting on it. Walker’s ability to feed off of emotion has its positives and negatives. Too often though, those emotions take over and cause him to take a poor angle or make a poor read. Similarly, he gets caught with his eyes in the backfield regularly. Quay will have to do a better job or he will get abused by veteran quarterbacks.

NFL Ceiling: De’Vondre Campbell