Tag: PJ Walker

Seahawks release quarterback PJ Walker

Seahawks release quarterback PJ Walker

The Seattle Seahawks are officially set at quarterback. Geno Smith is obviously the starter, and Sam Howell will be the backup. Unfortunately, there does not seem to be space in the quarterback room for journeyman PJ Walker, who is being released by the team.

The news was first reported by ESPN’s Brady Henderson.

Walker has bounced around the league ever since he was signed by the Indianapolis Colts as an undrafted free agent. After three years among the Hoosiers, Walker made a name for himself in the revitalized XFL, before the league was prematurely ended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, Walker’s success got him noticed by the NFL, and returned to the league as a member of the Carolina Panthers. From there he had stints with the Chicago Bears and last year with the Cleveland Browns.

Walker played better than his final numbers might have indicated. Overall, he completed 15-of-28 passes for 147 yards, no touchdowns or interceptions. However, his two biggest moments came in the first game against the Los Angeles Chargers, where he kept a scoring drive alive by converting on two third-and-long situations.

In the NFL, there is always a shortage of available quarterbacks. Walker has proven he is worthy of being on a roster, and he will surely find another team in need of his services.

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Seahawks fall to Titans 16-15 in preseason Week 2

Seahawks fall to Titans 16-15 in preseason Week 2

Another week, another low-scoring defensive affair from Mike Macdonald’s Seattle Seahawks. Unfortunately for Seattle, their ability to cross the 15-point threshold was not enough for the win this week, as they fell 16-15 to the Titans in Nashville.

The Seahawks started strong. After punts on their first two possessions, they marched 84-yards in only eight plays, taking an early 6-0 lead thanks to Sam Howell’s 23-yard strike to Easop Winston Jr. Unfortunately, kicker Jason Myers missed the PAT. It was a strong night overall for Myers, who did his best to keep the Seahawks in a position to win, but sadly that missed extra point loomed large.

Tennessee scored right before the half, but Sam Howell led the team on one final scoring drive to close out the second quarter to go into intermission with a 12-7 lead. However, Tennessee played keep-away from the Seahawks in the second half.

The Titans outright dominated time of possession, 37:49 to 22:11 as the defense simply could not get off the field. And when the offense was on, they could not remain on. Seattle finished with only 239 yards as a team.

Late magic almost went their way, after safety Ty Okada picked off Malik Willis on third down, giving the Seahawks one final chance. PJ Walker got Seattle in position for a 50-yard field goal from Myers, who did connect to give the Seahawks a 15-13 lead with 1:55 left in the game. Unfortunately, just like last December, Seattle’s defense could not get a stop from Mason Rudolph who led the game winning drive for Tennessee.

The Seahawks now fall to 1-1 in exhibition games this summer, and will close out the preseason next Saturday at 7:00 pm against the Cleveland Browns at Lumen Field.

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Did Sam Howell clinch Seahawks’ backup QB spot in preseason Week 1?

Did Sam Howell clinch Seahawks’ backup QB spot in preseason Week 1?

Seattle Seahawks starting quarterback Geno Smith did not play in Saturday’s preseason Week 1 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers. Mike Macdonald and the coaching staff made the right decision, taking a cautious approach since Smith had just recently returned to practice from minor knee/hip injuries. Backup quarterback Sam Howell earned the start in his place.

Howell was effective and took advantage of his opportunity to play alongside the first-team offense. He concluded the first half by completing 10-of-20 attempts with 60 passing yards and a touchdown. The statistics don’t tell the complete story. Three of Howell’s incompletions were throwaways.

Howell protected the ball and made quality decisions, which will encourage Seattle’s coaching staff, given he threw an NFL-high 21 interceptions as a member of the Washington Commanders last season. The Seahawks nursed a 14-3 lead at the half. Howell benefited from a dominant defense that allowed just 71 total yards on 25 plays.

Howell’s touchdown pass was a 13-yard score to tight end Brady Russell that opened the scoring in the second quarter. The dual-threat quarterback also used his legs well, scrambling for 17 yards via four rushing attempts.

It was a large-scale showcase for Howell, who was acquired from the Commanders in March in exchange for two 2024 NFL Draft picks. Howell played the majority of the contest, finishing with a 16-of-27 statline with 130 yards and one touchdown. He was then replaced by No. 3 quarterback PJ Walker, who completed 4-of-10 attempts for 61 yards.

The Seahawks are holding an open competition at backup quarterback. Howell has been the favorite ever since John Schneider traded for him, but it’s a little early to say the job is definitely his, given how well Walker has played throughout training camp. Howell maximized his opportunity on Saturday, showcasing he’s developing into a smarter quarterback.

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Seahawks win preseason debut 16-3 against Chargers

Seahawks win preseason debut 16-3 against Chargers

The Seattle Seahawks have started exactly where they left off when they played their last game in 2024: with a victory. On January 7th of this year, the Seahawks outlasted the Arizona Cardinals 21-20. Tonight, they took care of business against the Los Angeles Chargers with a 16-3 victory to open the preseason.

Seattle started the game with a pair of punts, but eventually found their footing by engineering a 12-play, 59-yard scoring drive. Sam Howell found tight end Brady Russell for a 13-yard touchdown to give the Seahawks an early 7-0 lead.

They did not have to wait long for their next points, as Coby Bryant intercepted Chargers’ quarterback Easton Stick on his first pass of the ensuing drive. Four plays later, running back George Holani scampered in for an 11-yard touchdown run. Kicker Jason Myers did miss the ensuing PAT, but a 13-0 lead was established, which proved to be insurmountable for Los Angeles.

The Seahawks ended the first half with three-straight punts, and a kneeldown with only seconds remaining in the second quarter. To start the third, Howell led the Seahawks offense on a 14-play, 84-yard drive which ended at LA’s two-yard line when Holani was stuffed on fourth down. It was the closest the Seahawks would get to the endzone for the rest of the game.

Fortunately, it did not matter. Seattle’s offense ate up plenty of clock with that drive, taking up 8:15. Later, PJ Walker led the offense on another lengthy drive… going 77-yards in 14 plays, lasting over six minutes in the fourth quarter which ended in a 48-yard field goal to go up 16-3.

As for the defense, Seattle kept Los Angeles in check. Any shortcomings from the offense were more than made up for by the defense, which stiffled anything the Chargers were attempting to do. LA was held to only three points, 198 yards, nine total first downs and only 2-of-13 on third down conversions. The Seahawks also dominated time of possession 39:09 to 20:51.

The closest the Chargers got to threatening Seattle was late in the fourth quarter when they made it all the way to the Seahawks’ 17-yard line. However, they turned the ball over on downs, effectively ending the game.

Seattle starts the preseason 1-0. Next up: a trip to the Music City where they will play the Tennessee Titans, next Saturday at 4:00 pm Pacifict time.

Ryan Grubb says new Seahawks offense is nearly 50% installed

Ryan Grubb says new Seahawks offense is nearly 50% installed

The Seattle Seahawks are ramping up under their new coaching staff, which includes offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb. Grubb, who was formerly with the University of Washington (and Alabama, for like a week), moves from the Montlake to Renton to help another Seattle-based football team.

Fortunately for the 12th Man, Grubb seems confident that the team is “right on schedule” when it comes to installing his new offense. An offense, mind you, which was the best in the country for the last two years and made it to the National Championship. Grubb recently spoke with the media about where the Seahawks offense was at:

“I would say we are closing in on 50% of our installation… I think early on we tried to do a good job on both sides of the ball of getting some of the critical exchanges and all the things we need to know and understand about the nuances and broad vision of the offense. Once you feel good about that, continue to build on that and move on—I think the guys have done a really good job, especially in the last week and a half, of getting that where we could feel good about building on top of some of those things.”

Both of Grubb’s top two quarterbacks, Geno Smith and Sam Howell, have praised his offense. Smith and Howell have described the system as “quarterback friendly,” as well as being favorable to Smith’s drop back style of play.

Now Grubb has another quarterback in the mix with P.J. Walker, who was recently signed to the Seahawks.

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Watch: New Seahawks QB P.J. Walker’s 2020 highlights from the XFL

Watch: New Seahawks QB P.J. Walker’s 2020 highlights from the XFL

The Seattle Seahawks signed former Browns, Panthers, and XFL quarterback P.J. Walker earlier this week. The move is clearly one to fill out the open QB3 position, but it does give Seattle another quarterback with a big arm and plenty of upside.

Walker’s NFL career is largely defined by occasional starts and glimmers of quality play, but what really gave him another shot in the league is how he performed in the XFL. Attempting its first reboot in the spring of 2020, the XFL was off to a strong start before the COVID-19 pandemic shut everything down.

Walker was the star of the league for the Houston Roughnecks. While playing for Houston, Walker had 15 touchdown passes against only four interceptions. His impressive highlight reel from his 5-0 season can be seen below.

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Analysis: P.J. Walker gives Seahawks another aggressive QB with upside

Analysis: P.J. Walker gives Seahawks another aggressive QB with upside

The Seattle Seahawks made another interesting move at quarterback yesterday when they signed former Cleveland Browns and Carolina Panthers backup P.J. Walker. With Walker now in the mix, Seattle’s quarterback room is entirely made of players who were never drafted by the Seahawks and have all played for other NFL teams.

Clearly, this move is to fill out the open QB3 position. Seattle’s coaching staff has already made it clear Geno Smith is going to be the starter, as he should be this year. He is the most refined at the position and his veteran starting experience gives him a clear edge over his two younger colleagues.

Now we turn our eyes to Sam Howell, the presumptive backup quarterback. The Seahawks traded for Howell, essentially giving a third round pick to acquire him, instead of drafting a quarterback. It seems Seattle has a vested interest in the young man, and it feels unlikely they brought in Walker to be legitimate competition. Perhaps Walker is merely insurance for both Howell and Smith should injuries return once more.

Walker was originally signed by the Indianapolis Colts in 2017, but spent three years as mainly a practice squad player. Walker re-started his NFL career by an impressive showing in the COVID-shortened XLF season in 2020, where he threw 15 touchdowns against only four interceptions.

After that, Walker played three years in Carolina, and one season in Cleveland as mostly a fill-in role for both teams. Walker ultimately accumulated a 5-4 record as a starter, but only has six touchdown passes against 16 interceptions. Obviously, this is not a legitimate starting quarterback level talent for the NFL.

Still, he is more than qualified to be an emergency reserve quarterback behind both Geno Smith and Sam Howell.

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Seahawks reportedly planning to sign former Panthers QB PJ Walker

Former Panthers QB PJ Walker is expected to sign with the Seahawks.

According to ESPN’s Brady Henderson, the Seattle Seahawks are planning to sign former Carolina Panthers quarterback PJ Walker. The deal, per Henderson, is waiting to be sealed by a physical—which is set to take place on Sunday.

Walker cracked into the NFL following a relatively productive college career at Temple University from 2013 to 2016. The Elizabeth, N.J. native still stands as the program’s all-time leader in wins by a starting quarterback, passing yards, passing touchdowns, completions, attempts, total yards and total touchdowns.

The Indianapolis Colts signed Walker as an undrafted free agent in May of 2017. He’d go on to bounce back and forth between the team’s practice squad and free agency into the 2019 campaign.

It wasn’t until 2020, during his five-game run for the XFL’s Houston Roughnecks, when Walker really began to turn heads. The COVID-shortened season saw him lead Houston to a 5-0 mark with 1,338 passing yards, 15 touchdowns and four interceptions.

That stint helped Walker back into the NFL, where the Carolina Panthers and his former Temple head coach Matt Rhule awaited him. He went on to appear in 15 games for the Panthers between 2020 and 2022—recording seven starts, 1,461 passing yards, five touchdowns and 11 picks.

Last spring, Walker signed a two-year pact with the Chicago Bears—who’d eventually cut him in August. He then joined the Cleveland Browns’ practice squad just days later and ended up playing in six games this past season.

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All qualifying NFL quarterbacks (plus all three of the Browns) ranked by total QBR

Where do the Browns quarterbacks Deshaun Watson, Dorian Thompson-Robinson, and PJ Walker rank among the NFL in QBR?

The Cleveland Browns have started three quarterbacks this season and may be on their fourth as they take on the Los Angeles Rams this weekend. With Dorian Thompson-Robinson in the concussion protocol, the Browns may turn to Joe Flacco instead of PJ Walker. All of this as starter Deshaun Watson has been ruled out for the rest of the season with a broken shoulder.

The quarterback play the Browns have seen this season has not been great, and anyone with two eyeballs can see that. But just where do these Cleveland quarterbacks fall among the rest of the league? Here, we will use ESPN’s QBR to rank every qualifying quarterback in the NFL, adding in all three from Cleveland.

While QBR is a full body of work metric that will not exclude the slow start that Watson was on or the Baltimore game of Thompson-Robinson’s where he found out he was starting two hours before kickoff, it does give a big picture look.

Here is every qualifying NFL quarterback ranked by ESPN QBR.

Steelers vs. Browns: Cleveland QB Deshaun Watson out for season

The Steelers will face Dorian Thompson-Robinson this week.

When the Pittsburgh Steelers take on the Cleveland Browns this week they will not be going against quarterback Deshaun Watson. The Browns released a statement that Watson will have season-ending surgery on a broken bone in his right shoulder.

With Watson out, rookie Dorian Thompson-Robinson will be the starting quarterback this week against the Steelers. Thompson-Robinson struggled in his lone start this season, throwing three interceptions in a 28-3 loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Oct. 1.

The Browns are in a similar situation to the Steelers at this point — questionable quarterback play counterbalanced by a stout defense and solid running game. The Steelers and Browns go into this week’s game 6-3 and battling for second place in the AFC North. The Steelers have the edge after beating the Browns in Week 2.

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