This wasn’t P.J. Walker’s first rodeo.
He posted an impressive college career at Temple, and had a short stint in the NFL with the Indianapolis Colts, on and off the practice squad from 2017 to 2019 before taking the reins of the Houston Roughnecks’ offense in the second debut of the XFL.
He was one of the most recognized players in the league’s opening weekend, completing 23-of-39 passes for 272 yards with four touchdowns and one interception on Houston’s 37-17 home victory over the Los Angeles Wildcats.
At Temple, the 5-foot-11, 214-pounder finished his college career as the Owls’ all-time leader in pass attempts (1,410), completions (803), passing yards (10,273), TD passes (72), and total offense (11,100).
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He brings a lot to the table — especially in terms of mobility and arm strength — but there’s still likely a long road ahead and some fine-tuning to do before he prepares to take his career to the next level yet another time.
Roughnecks coach June Jones has experience in coaching against Walker, and is eager to see what the quarterback can accomplish at the helm as the season progresses.
“He did some really good things,” he said. “I was kind of anxious to see him because I had played against him in college. When the play breaks down, you want the quarterback to create things, and he did a lot of stuff… that kind of was his magic in college, too. We get him plugged in, and if he can continue to get better in his reads, I think he has a real chance to be a pretty good player.”
Walker was pleased with his performance, which was received with chants of “P.J., P.J., P.J.” by a crowd of over 17,000 as he walked off the field in TDECU Stadium on Saturday night.
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But like Jones, he knows the work is far from over after just the first game of the year.
“I missed a lot of reads to be honest… some reads I should never miss,” he said. “I’ve gotta go out there next week and not make the same mistakes… I’ve got to take what people give me and not try to force it downfield.”
Obviously it’s still early on, but in a league hungry for talented quarterbacks, a developed Walker could catch the eyes of the NFL teams like the Titans, who have experienced a lot of turnover at the position with a history of signing subpar backups who never seem to be able to answer the call like Zach Mettenberger and Blaine Gabbert — just to name a couple.
Walker and the Roughnecks will look to remain undefeated as they face the visiting St. Louis Battlehawks in Houston on Sunday at 5 p.m. CST.
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