Being asked to step in for an All-Pro left tackle is a tough spot to be in when you’re a seventh-round pick in Year 2. However, that is precisely where Rasheed Walker found himself when David Bakhtiari was placed on season-ending injured reserve on September 28. Early in the season, Walker struggled with consistency, but lately, he has been one of the best offensive tackles in the NFL.
Initially, after not logging a single offensive snap as a rookie, the 249th overall pick out of Penn State in 2022 looked like he belonged. In his first two career starts, Walker did not surrender a single sack and allowed just two quarterback pressures, according to Pro Football Focus. At the time, NFL Next Gen Stats also ranked him 2nd among offensive tackles in run block win rate.
Unfortunately, Walker’s play began to slip over the next four games. In Green Bay’s Week 4 loss to the Detroit Lions, he gave up two sacks and four pressures. Then it reached a breaking point in Week 8 against the Minnesota Vikings when Walker played only 18 snaps but gave up a sack and was called for an ineligible man downfield penalty that negated a first down. Halfway through the second quarter, he was benched for Yosh Nijman.
The following week, the team left it open for who would start at left tackle against the Los Angeles Rams. Nijman got the nod but ended up splitting time with Walker, who delivered one of his better performances of the year. Since then, the coaching staff has continued to rotate Walker and Nijman and Jon Runyan and Sean Rhyan at right guard to encourage competition and bring the best out of their players.
So far, it appears to be working. The Packers managed to win four out of five games between Weeks 9 and 13, including massive upsets against the Detroit Lions and Kansas City Chiefs. During that stretch, Jordan Love and the offense looked much-improved thanks in part to more stability from the offensive line.
“I think that’s what’s helping a little bit,” offensive line coach Luke Butkus said of rotation players after a 29-22 win over the Lions on Thanksgiving. “Guys are feeling that, and everybody works their butts off, there’s no question about that, but this competition, building this room off of competition, everybody stepped up. Not just Sheed (Rasheed Walker), not just Yosh (Nijman), but JR (Jon Runyan) and Sean Rhyan. It’s been great for the room.
It’s been incredibly beneficial for Walker.
While Green Bay has lost two in a row amid a final push for the playoffs, Walker has been lights out in his past five appearances. Per PFF, he ranks third among all tackles in offensive grade between Weeks 11 and 15. Only Detroit’s Penei Sewell and future Hall of Famer Trent Williams have graded better.
In the most recent crushing defeat at the hands of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Walker was not only PFF’s highest-graded player on the Packers’ offense but also the highest-graded tackle for Week 15.
For a player with limited expectations coming out of college, Walker’s growth throughout his second season has been a positive development for a team trying to figure out which players will be a part of the roster foundation moving forward. The jury is still on whether Bakhtiari will return in 2024, but Walker is starting to look like the left tackle of the future.