So You’ve Drafted Rasheed Walker...

THE SKINNY

A former four-star Top 100 prospect, Rasheed Walker chose Penn State over Ohio State and Maryland. It didn’t take long for Walker to leave his mark in Happy Valley, as he saw action in four games before taking a redshirt in 2018 and then settled into the full-time starting left tackle spot for three seasons — 2019, 2020, and 2021. Walker never quite played up to his potential of a first-team All-B1G offensive tackle, but he earned third-team All-B1G honors twice.

WHAT YOU’RE GETTING

Man, that’s a loaded question. As I just alluded to above, Walker never turned into the player a lot of people thought he could — that being, a truly dominant left tackle. The frustrating part is that he flashed dominance at times, but the consistency was just never there. It just felt like the player he was in 2019 was basically the player he was in 2021 — right down to the flashes of brilliance mixed with the frustrating gaffs.

Make no mistake about it though: Walker was a productive offensive tackle for Penn State. Yes, he never dominated but he was certainly an above-average left tackle for a college football program. He’s big, long, athletic, and powerful; all really, really good traits to have. I think the question for Walker is if left tackle is his best spot. He struggled with the more athletic edge rushers, so perhaps a move to right tackle could be in the cards. He has a powerful base and does a good job of finishing blocks once he gets his hands on you, so limiting the range in which he needs to play should be good for him. Honestly, I wouldn’t be shocked if he ends up at guard either. He just plays better in a phone booth than out in space.

While Walker never developed into the franchise bookend many were hoping he could be, I think most NFL teams would be happy to take a flier on him on Day 3. See if with some NFL coaching he can improve his movement in space, and if not, you have someone who could project nicely as a guard.