Why the buzz around P.J. Walker is real

The Carolina Panthers made quarterback P.J. Walker the first player signed to an NFL roster from the XFL. What are they getting?

With the COVID-19 virus causing a halt to professional sports, the revamped XFL saw its debut season cut short. And with the season canceled, NFL teams were free this week to sign players to their roster from XFL organizations.

The first player to make such a move was the most likely: Houston Roughnecks quarterback P.J. Walker.

Walker was one of the great stories out of the XFL’s inaugural campaign. Walker was a teammate of Andrew Luck, son of league commissioner Oliver Luck, with the Indianapolis Colts. It was the younger Luck who was perhaps Walker’s biggest champion, making the case to his father that his former teammate needed a shot in the league. As Oliver Luck told John McClain with the Houston Chronicle, “Andrew had been pushing him to me. He said, ‘Dad, I’m telling you, this guy can play. He’s a good kid and a hard worker, and he’s hungry to play.’”

But that got Walker to the XFL. What is it about his play that got him to the Carolina Panthers this week?

We can start back at Temple University.

In December of 2012, Temple University announced the hire of a new head football coach. That coach was someone already on staff, who started with Temple first as a defensive line coach before becoming the quarterbacks coach, and eventually the offensive coordinator. That man? Matt Rhule.

The Temple Owls struggled in Rhule’s first season as the head coach, winning just two games. But there were signs of hope for the program. One of those signs was a true freshman quarterback who started seven games for the Owls and even secured American Athletic Conference Player of the Week honors in the regular season finale, when he completed 20 of 32 passes for 328 yards and four touchdowns in a victory over Memphis. That freshman QB? P.J. Walker.

Walker would play in 49 games while at Temple, finishing his career by setting school records in wins by a starting quarterback (28), passing yards (10,688), passing touchdowns (74), completions (830), attempts (1,458), total yards (11,439) and total touchdowns (83). Walker also guided the Owls to their first conference title in 49 years, the 2016 season.

While at Temple, Walker flashed both tremendous athleticism, as well as the ability to make off-platform throws from anywhere on the field, and from any arm angle. One of his more memorable plays highlighted both his athleticism and his competitive toughness, this touchdown run on 4th and goal in a game against Penn State:

Walker was an undrafted free agent out of Temple, and he signed with the Indianapolis Colts back in May of 2017. He spent the entirety of his NFL career bouncing between waivers and their practice squad, although he did again show flashes in preseason games. Take, for example, this seam route in a preseason game against the Cincinnati Bengals:

This is a tremendous read and throw by the quarterback. Walker sees that the seam route is open against the coverage, and buys a bit of time with his feet before launching this route. He puts the ball to the outside – almost like a back shoulder throw – to protect his target from the rotating safety coming over from the middle of the field.

Of course, Walker’s story continued to the XFL, where he started all five games for Houston, leading them to an unblemished 5-0 record. In those five games Walker completed 65 percent of his passes for 1,338 yards and 15 touchdowns, against just four interceptions. At the time the league shuttered its doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Walker was leading the league in both passing yards and passing touchdowns.

What excited scouts about this XFL performances? The same things that he was doing back at Temple: Flashing athleticism and the ability to make any throw from any arm angle. Take, for example, this touchdowns strike against the St. Louis Battlehawks:

Walker shows the athleticism in the pocket to extend this play, but he does not panic. Rather than simply looking for an escape route he keeps his eyes downfield and looks for a target, eventually finding Cam Phillips for the short touchdown. Now watch this play from the end zone angle, to see that arm slot from the QB:

What might make Walker a very enticing option for both his former coach and his new offensive coordinator, Joe Brady? How his athleticism and vision translates to the offense that Brady will be installing with the Carolina Panthers. Take this touchdown again against St. Louis:

This is a run/pass option design, with a speed option element to the right edge between Walker and the running back, as well as Phillips releasing on an in-cut to the middle of the field, where he will “run to daylight.” Walker has both the athleticism to dance around the edge pressure, as well as the vision to find Phillips on his route. He then delivers a rocket for the score.

For more of Walker’s XFL season, you can watch this highlight package. There you will see the vision, the athleticism as well as the downfield passing ability that makes him a great fit in Brady’s offense:

Walker’s rise back to the NFL is real. Could Brady work his magic for the second year in a row? After all, the Rise of Joe Burrow is also real, and Burrow was playing under Brady. Walker’s athleticism, vision and game-changing ability outside of the pocket makes him a very dangerous weapon for Brady and Rhule as the 2020 season approaches.