Tracy Walker led the Detroit Lions in tackles in 2019 with 103. He did that in just 13 games at safety. During the three games he missed, the Lions surrendered two of their three highest opposing passing yardage totals of the season. Only Trey Flowers earned a higher Pro Football Focus grade on the Lions defense for the season than Walker.
He’s part of the young core talent the Lions hope to build a winner around. Now entering his third year, Walker is poised to establish himself as one of the top young safeties in the league. Yet it appears he will not be a designated starter when the Lions take the field in Week 1.
Based on Walker’s own Zoom session with reporters and reports coming out of Allen Park on Friday, Walker will be on the sidelines behind newcomer Duron Harmon and second-year Will Harris on the Lions depth chart at safety.
Walker sheepishly indicated, “I don’t know” when asked if he would start against the Bears in Ford Field on Sunday.
“I don’t know how to answer that question because that’s above my pay grade,” Walker explained.
It’s a bizarre development. Walker has not appeared on any team injury reports and has receiving favorable reviews in practice sessions open to the media. His emergence as a do-it-all safety seems to be a big key for the “multiple” defense the Lions operate under head coach Matt Patricia and new defensive coordinator Cory Undlin.
Neither Patricia nor Undlin has made any comment, positive or negative, about Walker recently.
Chris Burke of The Athletic, who served as the Lions media pool reporter for open practice sessions this week (meaning increased access), offered this softening explanation.
The Lions will rotate safeties so it may not matter much in the end, but it sure (still) looks like we're in for a Duron Harmon-Will Harris starting tandem Sunday. https://t.co/aTeV8GwYhK
— Chris Burke (@ChrisBurkeNFL) September 11, 2020
Our take
The Lions do indeed play three safeties quite a bit. But Walker was clearly the best playmaking and coverage safety on the roster a year ago. He’s demonstrably better than Harris at literally everything a team could want a safety to do on the field. If Walker is healthy and not a problem in the locker room — and there is zero indication of injury or discontent — it’s an inexplicable decision by Patricia and his staff to not have him on the field as much as possible.
[lawrence-related id=35069]