What’s better than one All-Pro linebacker? Two of them. The Green Bay Packers think they’ve added a replica of standout linebacker De’Vondre Campbell in first-round pick Quay Walker, the team’s first off-ball linebacker picked in the first round since A.J. Hawk in 2005.
“I think, Quay, when you look at him, he looks similar to De’Vondre Campbell, they are almost clones of each other, minus the hair,” coach Matt LaFleur said, via Packers.com.
Both Walker and Campbell are long, highly athletic inside linebackers with elite movement skills. Throughout the draft process, many analysts (including Mike Renner of PFF) compared Walker with Campbell, who was a fourth-round pick of the Atlanta Falcons in 2016 but emerged as an All-Pro in his first season with the Packers. Walker, who tested like an elite athlete before the draft, was a 15-game starter for the historic Georgia defense.
Together, the pair could give the Packers a fast and explosive duo capable of chasing down the football from sideline to sideline, clogging passing lanes in the middle of the field and tackling everything in sight.
The Relative Athletic Score comparison reveals that Walker could actually be a supercharged version of Campbell. At least by testing metrics, Walker is bigger, faster and quicker.
Like Campell, who was the NFL’s best tackling linebacker in 2021, Walker hardly misses. Having two linebackers who can run and tackle may give the Packers more chances to keep both Walker and Campbell on the field and play two-high safety looks behind the pair to help prevent big plays.
“His range and speed and explosiveness as a tackler was something we couldn’t pass up,” general manager Brian Gutekunst said.
Gutekunst saw the comparison on tape, too.
“Quay is going to benefit from learning from Dre,” Gutekunst said. “There’s a lot of similar skill sets. He’s going to learn a lot from him.”
Walker will be expected to be a starter alongside Campbell right away. The pair could be a dynamic duo in the middle of the Packers defense, which suddenly looks like one of the NFL’s best units after adding Walker and fellow first-round pick Devonte Wyatt in the first round.
“This really gives us our defense a ton of flexibility,” Gutekunst said.
