Next Steps on Rasheed Walker’s Path To Getting Paid

Probably the Most ‘NFL Ready’ Among Those Who Pushed Going Pro Back a Year, the Penn State Junior OT Could Have the Chance to Shake the Commissioner’s Hand in April 2022 

For Rasheed Walker, it’s 1st Round or Bust.

Not “Bust” in the sense that if he doesn’t hear Roger Goodell call his name on Day 1 of the 2022 NFL Draft he’s a bum or something, but rather “Bust” in the context that of the 4 Penn State returnees, Walker is the player with a clearly-defined financial objective this fall. So anything less than coming off the board in the first 32 picks would be a disappointment. 

Because, really, Walker was the ONLY Penn State draft-eligible player posed with a truly difficult stay-or-go decision – bail early and likely get selected in the 3rd Round (maaaaybe late 2nd), or press pause on the pros and chase the very REAL possibility of being the first Nittany Lions O-lineman to go in the 1st Round since 2007?

Not an easy choice…which explains why Walker waited so long to announce his intentions. 

Walker’s subtly solid 2020 campaign flew a but under the radar thanks to the dysfunctional “Grand Opening, Grand Closing” nature of the Kirk Ciarrocca Era at Penn State. But upon second, closer examination of Walker’s second full season as a starter, the soon-to-be redshirt junior made substantial strides in the right direction and corrected a few glaring problem areas from 2019.

According to PFF, Walker graded three points better as a run blocker this year compared to last year – a progression that probably didn’t slap us in the face like it should have because Penn State’s ballcarriers (QBs and RBs) lacked ‘Play The Fight Song’ breakaway speed. 

Perfect example:

Man, Walker absolutely big brothers (verb) Nebraska’s 310-pound, Rivals’ Top 100 recruit Ty Robinson on this play, rudely ushering No. 99 out of the way to open up a massive hole for…Sean Clifford (womp womp). Not trying to spit on an 11-yard gain, but Walker and Will Fries (on the pull) created a touchdown-worthy alley…and if not a touchdown hole, then certainly a hole with a much higher expected return than what Clifford accumulates here.  

Piggybacking off the play you just viewed, Walker showcased a bit of nasty, aggressive streak as a runblocker in 2020 that didn’t really show up on tape in 2019  – a pleasant development and innate character trait that can’t be taught or coached, but one that can be extracted an refined under the proper tutelage (cough, Phil Trautwein). Quite simply, no other Penn State blocker moved opposing linemen off the ball – and occasionally to the ground — like Walker did last season.

Pancake 1: 

Pancake 2: 

The next evolution in Walker’s development as a run blocker needs to be increasing his comfort level and shoring up technique when asked to pull and block second-level defenders or climb and block second-level defenders. Blessed with uncanny athleticism for a man his size – 6-foot-6, 313 pounds – this ‘ask’ is completely doable for Walker. Plus, it’s not like Walker was glaringly substandard in these situations…because as you’ll in this big run vs. Ohio State where he sort of bothers (not blocks) Buckeyes linebacker 20- Pete Werner he’s effective…it’s just looks a bit funky/not technically sound when squaring up the defender. 

As a pass protector, Walker also showed significant improvement from Year 1 to Year 2 as a starting left tackle. Despite seeing 39 more reps as a pass blocker in 2020, Walker allowed four less QB pressures (2020: 14 vs. 2019: 18) and three fewer sacks (2020: 2 vs. 2019: 5).  Walker’s PFF Grade as a Pass Blocker rose 4.1 points this season. 

Here’s a quick sampling of Walker’s quality late-game pass pro reps vs. Iowa when the Hawkeyes KNEW Penn State had to throw:

Sorry to make you relive those errant Clifford’s tosses. Just focus on Walker. Seriously, we’re sorry…moving on. 

During his redshirt freshman season (2019), Walker ‘turned the corner’ as a pass protector after surviving (not winning, but surviving) a mid-October showdown vs. Iowa DE/future 2nd Round NFL Draft pick A.J. Epenesa. In that game – a low-scoring road win at Kinnick — Walker was taken to school and taught a lesson about base/balance the hard way after Epenesa manipulated Walker’s momentum/lean to his advantage more than once in the 1st Quarter. Epenesa finished that game with 1 sack and 3 solo tackles, but Walker prevented the Hawkeyes standout from completely wrecking Penn State’s offense like Epenesa did vs. Nebraska (2 sacks, 4 TFL), Minnesota (2.5 sacks, 3.5 TFL) and USC (2.5 sacks, 1 FF).

This season, Walker won the 1-on-1 battle vs. the best pass rusher he faced — Michigan Edge/Projected 2021 NFL 1st Rounder Kwity Paye. Walker only surrendered one QB Pressure in the Nittany Lions’ 27-17 win in Ann Arbor and held Paye to a 60.1 PFF pass rush grade – by far Paye’s worst outing of an abbreviated 2020. 

On this play, Paye initially gets Walker teeter-tottering on his back heels with a fierce helmet-in-the-chest-plate bull rush, but Walker counters and re-establishes balances/leverage by planting his left leg in the ground to stymie the soon-to-be millionaire’s drive. Will Fries assists with a late double-team, enabling Sean Clifford enough time to squirrel around before finding 3-Parker Washington on a key 3rd and 8. Penn State scored a TD on this drive. 

OK, enough gold star stickers. Let’s uncap our red marker for a bit.   

Approximately 1/3rd of Walker’s allowed pressures had nothing to do with footwork, hand placement, strength, lateral movement, or faulty technique. No, they were just blown assignments…like this doozy vs. Nebraska where Walker totally whiffs but at least has the common courtesy to motion/mouth to Will Levis, “Hey man, sorry I totally blew it! Watch the hell out!” 

Not sure if Walker’s ‘mental lapses’ were a byproduct of the disjointed 2020 offseason and last-minute cram session required to learn the new system once the Big Ten brass got (rightly) peer pressured into having a season? We’re just going to assume that’s the reason and gift Walker a quality excuse.

We could also dog Walker for leading the Nittany Lions in penalties last season. But if we did, we’d basically be jerks…because he only drew 4 flags. That’s less than a half-a-penalty a game. For context, 2020 consensus All-American tackles Liam Eichenberg of Notre Dame and Brady Christensen of BYU had 4 and 5 penalties, respectively.