Prior to the Green Bay Packers’ final preseason game in Kansas City, we hadn’t heard or seen much of rookie offensive tackle Rasheed Walker.
He had been dealing with a foot injury, which resulted in some missed practice time, and when he was on the field, he took “a lot of hard coaching,” as Bill Huber of Sports Illustrated wrote.
But Walker made his preseason debut against the Chiefs, taking over at right tackle with the second offensive line unit, and he made the most of his limited opportunities.
The Packers selected Walker late in the seventh round of his past draft out of Penn State, where he was the Nittany Lions’ starting left tackle for three seasons.
Against Kansas City, Walker was on the field for 49 total snaps, including 35 pass blocking reps, and he didn’t give up a single pressure per PFF. He also threw a key block on an 11-yard run from Patrick Taylor.
In a matter of just a few hours, Walker went from being a sure-fire cut candidate to now potentially being in the mix for a roster spot as the 10th offensive lineman.
In the first three seasons under Matt LaFleur, the Packers have never kept more than nine offensive linemen on the initial 53-man roster–and right now, nine roster spots are accounted for.
However, given the uncertainty around Elgton Jenkins’ and David Bakhtiari’s availability early on in the season, rostering a 10th lineman does make sense for depth purposes. If both are unable to play, that leaves the Packers with only seven active offensive linemen, not including any practice squad elevations.
If the Packers choose to keep a 10th offensive lineman, it will be between Walker and Caleb Jones, an undrafted rookie who has put together an impressive summer. Jones has worked his way up the depth chart, consistently taking snaps at both tackle positions with the second-team offense in recent weeks.
Standing 6-9, Jones has rare size and length at the offensive tackle position, and he is loaded with upside. But from a technique standpoint, Walker has the advantage based on what we saw Thursday night, which could lead to making an impact sooner.
The Packers won’t be able to keep both on the 53-man roster, and while their play this summer will, of course, be an important part of the evaluation, Green Bay will also consider whether one player is more likely to get to the practice squad than the other. For example, if the Packers have greater concerns about Walker being claimed by another team if he’s cut, that may be the deciding factor in who the 10th lineman is.
We also need to keep in mind that rostering a 10th lineman takes away from another position group. So instead of keeping a sixth defensive lineman, maybe the Packers have to keep five. Or the Packers roster just four linebackers instead of five.
If the Packers do end up keeping Walker on the 53-man roster, his rookie season will likely look similar to that of Yosh Nijman’s in 2020, which was essentially a red-shirt year for him as he saw 14 total offensive snaps in mop-up duty and another 80 on special teams.
Roster cutdowns for the Packers, as well as the rest of the NFL, need to be completed by Tuesday afternoon at 3:00 CST. And in only one game, Walker has very much thrown himself into that mix after what was largely a quiet summer.
