Rasheed Walker Scouting Report: 2022 NFL Draft Player Profile
Offensive Tackle (LT), Penn State, #53
Measurements
6’6” / 325 lbs
40 time: Ran a 5.35 40 in high school.
Rasheed Walker 2022 NFL Draft Prospect: Player Profile
Rasheed was a four-time letterman coming out of North Point High School in Maryland. At this time he garnered four-star ratings from 247Sports, ESPN, and Rivals. Walker was selected to play in the US Army All-American game too. During his freshman season at Penn St., Walker managed to see time in four games but kept his redshirt status.
In 2019, Rasheed would play and start in all 13 of Penn St.’s games. That season, Penn St. would finish 11-2, average 35.8 points per game, and 411.9 yards of total offense per game. Walker would also play and start in all nine games during the Covid-19 shortened 2020 season. While Penn St. would finish the season a disappointing 4-5, the Nittany Lions would still boast the #2 offense in the Big Ten. Rasheed also saw himself earn a third team All-Big Ten selection from the media, with an honorable mention nod from the Big Ten coaches. At the time of this writing Rasheed, now a redshirt junior, has helped the Nittany Lions get off to a 4-0 start. They are currently averaging 31.5 points per game and 421.3 total yards per game.
Rasheed Walker Strengths
Athleticism
Penn State OT Rasheed Walker (53).
I’m always impressed to see people the size of Walker do the things they do during games. I mean here he is almost hurdling a running back (image to left). He moves so smoothly for someone that is six and a half feet tall and well over 300 pounds. A solid, quick kick-step at the snap helps him get in position on edge rushers. Rasheed displays great footwork and balance as well. So much so, that he has this great ability to recover when he gets out leveraged by the defender. He bends so well in these situations and simply guides the rusher around the edge of the pocket, even though he looked like he was beaten just a second before. Walker also easily can get up to the second level while run blocking.
High Motor
One of the things I noticed about Rasheed that I liked the most, was how active he was during every play. Naturally an offensive lineman is going to look for someone to hit on rushing plays, but Walker does it while pass blocking as well. I feel like so many times, if a lineman doesn’t have someone they’re assigned to block on a pass play, they just take the play off and stand there. That just isn’t Walker though. If he sees that nobody is rushing on the edge, he turns his focus back inside and helps out wherever he’s needed. Do I blame other players for taking a play off to rest when they get a chance? Of course not. But when you see someone that is constantly looking to work, how can you not like it?
Passing Off/ Picking Up Blocks
Defenses like to call stunts across the defensive front to try and confuse offensive lineman on their assignments. This is something that Rasheed handles very well. I really enjoyed watching him seamlessly pass off and pick up defenders as they made their stunts. It seemed so effortless for Walker that I had to wonder whether or not he knew the defensive play call before the snap. It isn’t always perfect, there were some struggles in the first game of the season against Wisconsin for example. However, I would put this more on the fact that the left guard, Anthony Whigan, was making his first career start for the Nittany Lions. I know many scouts had a question mark here entering the season, but it looks like he has improved drastically.
Rasheed Walker Weaknesses
Ummmm…. Play Strength
Penn State LT Rasheed Walker.
I really don’t feel right saying that Walker has a glaring weakness, honestly. But to complete the Rasheed Walker scouting report I need to find something. The worst that I would say is that I believe the weakest part of his game might be his overall play strength. This isn’t to say that Walker can’t play at the next level. He has plenty of strength to be able to play and play at an extremely high level in the NFL.
At the same time, he isn’t going to blow you away by pushing a defensive lineman back five yards on a goalline running play. He makes up for this with that great athleticism I mentioned earlier. He used that great footwork and balance to gain position on the defender and walls them out of the play. Again, he isn’t going to blow you away here, but Walker is still extremely consistent and doesn’t get beat often.
Final Thoughts on Rasheed Walker
The prevailing opinion at this moment in time, is that Alabama offensive tackle Evan Neal will be the first tackle taken in the 2022 NFL Draft. But I really like what I saw from Rasheed while watching tape on him. I don’t need my offensive lineman bulldozing defenders. I know that it makes for great highlight reels, but I’d rather see someone that can consistently open up holes and keep my quarterback from getting blown up. That’s exactly what Rasheed is going to do for whatever teams selects him.
Great size, athleticism, and enough strength to hold up against NFL level defenders. Walker is going to give a solid, consistent performance week in and week out. Along with that, Walker has only played left tackle, with 30 games played and 26 starts, during his time at Penn St. at the time of writing this article. I know that Neal will have an entire season at left tackle by the time the draft gets here, but that experience advantage is enough for me to have Rasheed ahead of Neal in my personal rankings. My fellow analyst Ken is in agree,emt. Because of this, I believe that Walker is easily a first round talent and will be in the running to be the first offensive tackle taken in the draft next April.
Rasheed Walker Scouting Report / 2022 NFL Draft Prospect Report by Brandon Claburn
Rasheed Walker NFL Comparison: Don’t shoot the messenger, but when watching him I got some young Joe Thomas vibes. Walker still needs to develop more though.
