While it was easy for some people to lament the idea of signing Quay Walker before and after it happened, the effort of the Las Vegas Raiders' front office to overhaul the linebacking corps is to be commended. Walker is a big piece of that effort, alongside his college teammate Nakobe Dean.
With Dean continuing to be absent from the practice field during the offseason program for unknown reasons, he has not talked to reporters at OTAs. Meanwhile, Walker took a turn at the podium after Day 2 of minicamp.
Defensive coordinator Rob Leonard has said that he wants the Las Vegas defense to be, among other things, but chiefly, fast and aggressive. When asked about that, Walker told reporters that he sees himself as a nice fit.
"That kind of describes me," Walker said. "Anytime I can be fast and be aggressive, I think I'm at my best. Anytime I got to sit right there and just think a whole lot -- not saying I don't want to do that, but playing inside linebacker, that's kind of what it takes. You got to think and react within 2-3 seconds, whatever the case may be. Any time you can just play, line up, play, and just react and play fast and be aggressive, that's the way I want to do it. I think that's why my style fits this organization. I think it's straight away."
Quay Walker feels he has landed in an ideal situation with Las Vegas Raiders
As fans may or may not know, Walker was selected with the 2022 first-round pick that the Raiders sent to the Packers in the Davante Adams trade. And that worked out well for them, as Walker filled up the stat sheet with over 100 tackles and at least 1.5 sacks in each of his four seasons in Green Bay.
But last season, according to Pro Football Focus, Walker lined up in the box for 873 of his 978 defensive snaps. His first three seasons, for better or worse, given his shortcomings in coverage, followed a similar template in terms of percentage of snaps in the box.
Perhaps with that previous alignment allocation in mind, Walker was then asked about seeing a potential role expansion and being a "Swiss Army Knife" under Leonard.
"I remember when I first signed here, and we were doing the interview up here, and I got back to 'I'm being used the right way.' The last team I played for, I think, kind of took it the wrong way," Walker explained. "I wasn't saying that just to be disrespectful toward the previous team, which is the Packers; I was just saying I'm moving around in different places. I feel like that's what my strengths are. You can move me down on the ball, or you can bring me back. It's a lot that I can do. I just feel like, right now, I'm being used the right way. I would never say it's more than I can chew. But it's everything that I want. ... I'm just happy that he views me as a player that can do multiple things."
Either via responsibilities he had in the scheme or the assessment of his skills by Green Bay's defensive coaches, Walker stopped just shy of saying he hasn't been used properly up to this point in his career.
Besides trading Wisconsin winters for a much warmer climate in those months, Walker may have also found a situation that will allow him to show all he can do as a football player. Let's just hope for the Raiders that he can answer the bell.
Add us as a preferred source on Google