Looking at Walkers college highlights, the majority of his pressures and sacks came from inside playing the DT position. Walker does not have the speed or bend to be a speed edge rusher. He has power but his only real move right now is the bull rush. I think it would be wise to throw him inside on passing downs to use that power to create pressure in the interior. This team does have a base 3-4 but plays a ton of 5-2, 4-3, and standard nickle/dime defense on 3rd down. The team cannot create enough interior pressure and believe he could be effective there.
It’s worth a try I think. Maybe move Smoot out to his position and put him inside.
I would really like to see Walker on the interior along with Smoot. It would be like the Stroud and Henderson days but with speed and quickness instead of brute force. They could put a lot of pressure on the center and guards.
The dude ran 4.51 at 275lbs.. He has plenty of speed.
I mean, the coaches have said repeatedly they want him to learn one spot well before asking him to play two.
I doubt they are going to change that out of desperation right now.
Walker was drafted #1 overall because he has tremendous speed and is a freak athlete. Not sure what games you've been watching, but it's not a lack of speed or bend that is the problem; it's that he's a rookie and still learning. Moving him to a different position would be the worst thing you could possibly do to hinder his development.
He needs development
And imo that comes down to the coordinator and coaching
Give him some more moves rather than a bullrush
(11-15-2022, 11:14 PM)JagFanatic24 Wrote: [ -> ]I would really like to see Walker on the interior along with Smoot. It would be like the Stroud and Henderson days but with speed and quickness instead of brute force. They could put a lot of pressure on the center and guards.
So it would be like Stroud and Henderson, but completely different?
They should let him ride out the role he's in now. I would like to see a few more of his pressures converted into sacks but next year I think will be his breakout year. Especially if they [BLEEP] around and end up getting lucky enough to draft his buddy Jalen Carter to play on the end next to him.
I don't think Mr. Bull Rush would succeed against 310 pound interior linemen in tight spaces. His strength is is size coupled with his speed which would be a mismatch on the outside if he had any moves or could use leverage turning the corner like a TJ Watt. Unfortunately, he's pretty much a straight line guy as we say in the UGA vs Bama Youtube video. He is what he is. Unfortunately, there was no Shaquille or LeBron at the top of this draft so we pretty much got the Kwame Brown of the NFL
I'd rather just see them nudge forward with the creativity using stunts and blitzes on passing downs personally.
Ramp that [BLEEP] up a bit and they may manufacture something. Use it to target the weak link on the o-line each week. We have not done that effectively IMO.
(11-16-2022, 09:10 AM)Mikey Wrote: [ -> ] (11-15-2022, 11:14 PM)JagFanatic24 Wrote: [ -> ]I would really like to see Walker on the interior along with Smoot. It would be like the Stroud and Henderson days but with speed and quickness instead of brute force. They could put a lot of pressure on the center and guards.
So it would be like Stroud and Henderson, but completely different?
No, not completely, just in every meaningful way.
I think he'll be fine down the stretch. He has certain traits and he's flashed some of those traits early. This is when teams starting paying him a lot more attention and respect.The fact that he's commanding double teams in his direction more than Josh Allen is really all I need to know about him so far in ten games. Lageman said something like this had been going on now since week four or five I believe.
I hate saying this, because I was adamant that I felt like the team needs to go WR during the opening night of the draft. However, it feels like the right move, based on value, should be Jalen Carter if he's still on the board. He would enable Walker, Allen, Hamilton and Fatukasi to do a lot more. Unfortunately these guys can't get it done on their own out there and they need another guy to get them over the hump.
Patience is required for Travon. Let him learn the one position. His speed and power will be valuable on the edge, for the run and hopefully the pass with additional moves.
I wouldn't mind seeing him inside on 3rd and long passing situations in a lightning package. Just tell him to go "blow [BLEEP] up" in the middle of the line and see what happens.
(11-15-2022, 11:14 PM)JagFanatic24 Wrote: [ -> ]I would really like to see Walker on the interior along with Smoot. It would be like the Stroud and Henderson days but with speed and quickness instead of brute force. They could put a lot of pressure on the center and guards.
If we want speed and quickness within the interior of a defensive line we should really look at lining up Jamal Agnew as our DT.
(11-16-2022, 12:13 PM)scottyg Wrote: [ -> ]I wouldn't mind seeing him inside on 3rd and long passing situations in a lightning package. Just tell him to go "blow [BLEEP] up" in the middle of the line and see what happens.
At 275 pounds, he's going to blow up an interior lineman without getting any running start? I don't think so. That's what makes people like Warren Sapp so great. Dude was 6-2" 300 pounds whereas Walker is 6-5" 275 pounds. Walker would get knocked around on the inside.
(11-16-2022, 03:58 PM)HURRICANE!!! Wrote: [ -> ] (11-15-2022, 11:14 PM)JagFanatic24 Wrote: [ -> ]I would really like to see Walker on the interior along with Smoot. It would be like the Stroud and Henderson days but with speed and quickness instead of brute force. They could put a lot of pressure on the center and guards.
If we want speed and quickness within the interior of a defensive line we should really look at lining up Jamal Agnew as our DT.
(11-16-2022, 12:13 PM)scottyg Wrote: [ -> ]I wouldn't mind seeing him inside on 3rd and long passing situations in a lightning package. Just tell him to go "blow [BLEEP] up" in the middle of the line and see what happens.
At 275 pounds, he's going to blow up an interior lineman without getting any running start? I don't think so. That's what makes people like Warren Sapp so great. Dude was 6-2" 300 pounds whereas Walker is 6-5" 275 pounds. Walker would get knocked around on the inside.
Yeah, 275 is small...
(11-16-2022, 04:47 PM)scottyg Wrote: [ -> ] (11-16-2022, 03:58 PM)HURRICANE!!! Wrote: [ -> ]If we want speed and quickness within the interior of a defensive line we should really look at lining up Jamal Agnew as our DT.
At 275 pounds, he's going to blow up an interior lineman without getting any running start? I don't think so. That's what makes people like Warren Sapp so great. Dude was 6-2" 300 pounds whereas Walker is 6-5" 275 pounds. Walker would get knocked around on the inside.
Yeah, 275 is small...
It's the height/weight ratio. In case you don't understand, Aaron Donald is only 285 pounds but the dude is 6'-1" tall so he can use his leverage whereas Walker is 6'-5" and 275 pounds as noted above -- BIG DIFFERENCE !!! Chris Jones is 6'-6" tall but he is also 311 pounds. So yes, Walker's height/weight ratio doesn't translate to DT.
Another thing is if we are trying to use our #1 DE pick as DT, that's a good sign he's not working out.
(11-16-2022, 05:18 PM)HURRICANE!!! Wrote: [ -> ] (11-16-2022, 04:47 PM)scottyg Wrote: [ -> ]Yeah, 275 is small...
It's the height/weight ratio. In case you don't understand, Aaron Donald is only 285 pounds but the dude is 6'-1" tall so he can use his leverage whereas Walker is 6'-5" and 275 pounds as noted above -- BIG DIFFERENCE !!! Chris Jones is 6'-6" tall but he is also 311 pounds. So yes, Walker's height/weight ratio doesn't translate to DT.
Another thing is if we are trying to use our #1 DE pick as DT, that's a good sign he's not working out.
if he worked out more, he might get stronger.
The defense needs more urgency and more element of surprise up front. This isn't about one player permanently moving to another stance. All of them need to be rotating and stunting around, frequently.