Two Panthers made the cut for the NFL’s best team that the salary cap can buy. And, surprisingly enough, one of them is a QB!
On Tuesday, NFL.com senior researcher Anthony Holzman-Escareno showed the football world his baby—the best team the league’s salary cap can buy. And wouldn’t you know it—two Carolina Panthers made the squad!
We’ll start on defense, where safety Jeremy Chinn squeezed in alongside Kevin Byard, Tyrann Mathieu and Jordan Fuller on the backend.
“Drafted as a safety, listed as a linebacker as a rookie and a safety as a sophomore, versatility is Jeremy Chinn’s game,” Holzman-Escareno writes. “He’s lined up for at least 200 snaps at each level of the defense over the last two seasons, per Next Gen Stats: line of scrimmage (232), linebacker (672), cornerback (459) and safety (532). Chinn has flashed some struggles in coverage, but his all-around skill set was too enticing to pass on. This dude also scored two defensive touchdowns on consecutive scrimmage plays as a rookie.”
Speaking of Chinn’s rookie campaign, the talented 24-year-old is still on his first NFL contract. His cap number for 2022 will amount to just $1.4 million—which, obviously, makes him quite a grab for this particular exercise.
The second Panther, and a much more surprising one, plays on the opposite side of the ball. What’s even more of a surprise is that (and we’ll need a drumroll for this . . . ) he’s a quarterback!
“Former Temple star PJ Walker is 2-0 as a starter in his career, brings an extra dimension with his legs and carries a cap hit a sliver under $900,000,” Holzman-Escareno notes. “There’s risk in not investing in another veteran option at quarterback behind [Tom] Brady. However, we know Brady isn’t coming off that field. I am also confident in this: If Matt Cassel could navigate the 2008 Patriots to an 11-5 record, [Davis] Mills or Walker can take this roster to the promised land.”
Walker sticks on as the No. 3 option on this roster, behind that Tom Brady dude and Houston Texans second-year passer Davis Mills. He’ll also likely be assuming the same role in Carolina this upcoming season, with Sam Darnold and Matt Corral battling for the reins in 2022.
The NFC South used to feature prime versions of Cam Newton, Drew Brees, Matt Ryan and Jameis Winston. Now, there’s only an almost 45-year-old Tom Brady to look forward to.
The NFC South used to be littered with top quarterbacks. Heck, it was arguably the league’s most stacked division under center.
But gone are the prime days of Cam Newton, Drew Brees, Matt Ryan and Jameis Winst . . . well, Jameis is still here—he’s just on a different team. Regardless, this isn’t your older brother’s NFC South.
NFL.com contributing columnist Adam Schein recently ranked each of the eight divisions by their collective talent at the position. And even Tom Brady himself couldn’t help carry this bunch, as Schein slots the group in at No. 7.
“This division gets dragged down by the Panthers and Falcons,” he writes. “Carolina’s quarterback situation is a flat-out, muddled mess. There are multiple quarterbacks on the roster, but probably not one that would currently rank among the top 40 in the NFL. Darnold’s first season with the Panthers was a serious disappointment (9:13 TD-to-INT ratio, 71.9 passer rating). P.J. Walker is P.J. Walker, a backup with a 51.6 career passer rating. Corral is a third-round pick whose placement at No. 40 among Daniel Jeremiah’s top 150 prospects of 2022 does not exactly suggest he’s a Day 1 difference-maker.”
Unfortunately for Carolina, Schein’s on the mark. Corral—in all fairness—should be given time, Walker is merely a decent backup and Darnold is Darnold.
Barring a move for one of two particular passers outside of the division, the South is projected to roll out the following in Week 1 . . .
Atlanta: Marcus Mariota
Carolina: Darnold
New Orleans: Winston
Tampa Bay: Brady
A bye week apparently didn’t do much to fix the current mess that is the 2021 Carolina Panthers.
The Carolina Panthers had a chance entering Week 14. Albeit a slight one, this 5-7 crew could’ve started their steep climb to a potential playoff start with a win Sunday over the Atlanta Falcons.
Well, it seems as though they didn’t bring their hiking gear.
The Panthers subbed out QB Cam Newton in Week 14 for situational purposes, not for what you may have been led to believe.
Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton, save for one awful decision, was absolutely fine in the first half of Sunday’s matchup with the Atlanta Falcons. But you’d never know it if you only followed along on through social media.
Down 17-7 with just over three minutes remaining in the first half, the Panthers subbed Newton out for backup PJ Walker. And, of course, the Twitter machine went to work without the context behind the move . . .
“Benched” would imply Newton was relieved of his duties for the rest of the game. But that, of course, was not the case because, ya know, there’s quite the business in rooting for the 11th-year quarterback to fail.
As stated numerous times by head coach Matt Rhule over the past handful of weeks, Walker has a better feel for the team’s two-minute offense than Newton. Well, gee, that seems pretty sensical considering Newton’s been back for about a month while Walker is on his second season with Carolina.
And—wouldn’t you know it?—Newton would come back under center straight out of the half. He subsequently led the Panthers on an eight-play, 60-yard touchdown drive, completing three of his four throws for 28 yards while rushing for another 16.
Panthers backup quarterback P.J. Walker threw a nice touchdown pass on a play that wasn’t even supposed to happen.
Panthers backup quarterback P.J. Walker has had quite the pro football journey. The Colts signed him as an undrafted free agent in 2017 out of Temple, and he bounced off and back on the practice squad until he was released in 2019. A good word from Andrew Luck to Luck’s father Oliver, Commissioner of the reborn XFL, had the Houston Roughnecks signing Walker in time for the 2020 season. Walker led the XFL in passing yards and passing touchdowns before COVID shut the league down in March, 2020. The Panthers took a flyer on Walker with a new contract — a move that would reunite him with head coach Matt Rhule, Walker’s head coach at Temple from 2013 through 2016.
In his 2021 preseason debut, Walker showed both good and bad. While he forced a couple throws he probably shouldn’t have made, he also showed a nice ability to improvise and make big plays outside the pocket to evade pressure. There was the 60-yard throw to receiver Terrace Marshall, but for the purposes of this story, let’s focus on Walker’s touchdown pass to tight end Tommy Tremble with 1:56 left in the first half.
A nice Mahomes-esque dart to his target after rolling out of pressure. No doubt about that. But in the structure of the drive, that play was not supposed to happen.
According to Rhule, Walker wasn’t supposed to snap the ball at all — the idea was to try and draw the Colts’ defense offside.
“I heard a whole bunch of things in my headset, and I heard him yelling from the sideline,” Walker said of Rhule.
Once the play was run, receiver Omar Bayless was supposed to be Walker’s target, but Walker saw Tremble as the guy who would get him six points.
“It worked,” Walker recalled. “I saw Omar’s guy stopped covering him, and once he broke in, I saw Tommy running full speed across the field, and he was the one who happened to get hit in the chest with the ball.”
Sometimes, coaches have to accept that their players will do things they did not expect. Hopefully, those instances will bring positive results. If this play isn’t in the Panthers’ playbook, perhaps it should be.
P.J. Walker. Rhamondre Stevenson. Alton Robinson. DeAndre Houston-Carson. Here are the Secret Superstars of Week 1 of the 2021 NFL preseason.
If you want to build a championship team at the NFL level, you’d best have your entire roster together. Because more often than not, it’s the bottom third of your roster that saves you in the dog days of the season. It’s the little-known special teams guy who forces two return fumbles in December. It’s the fifth cornerback who can play safety in big nickel who will come up with a key interception to help sew up a division title. It’s the swing tackle who replaces the injured starter and keeps your quarterback safe for three straight games when things could go the other way.
Coaches and executives look at the preseason as a buffet line for these types of players — the guys who, based on their preseason performances, prove that they’re ready to help out by any means necessary.
Now that the first week of the 2021 preseason is in the books, here are the Secret Superstars who might be on their ways to unexpected roster spots… or perhaps even starting spots.
Now that XFL players are free to sign with NFL rosters, here are five players the Buffalo Bills should pursue.
As NFL free agency begins to heat up, players who hoped to better their stock by playing in the XFL are now looking to cash in on their risk.
The league, which prematurely concluded its season last week due to the COVID-19 outbreak, has informed players that they are free to sign with NFL teams if they so choose, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.
As first-and-second-tier free agents begin to ink deals with new franchises this week, teams may start to look to XFL alumni to add competition to their roster.
Though the Buffalo Bills have wasted no time in adding elite talent to its roster this offseason, there are a few XFL veterans who could prove to be interesting and valuable additions.
Here are five former XFL players that the Bills should pursue.
When put up against fellow NFL rejects and cast outs, P.J. Walker shined.
He was dubbed ‘the Patrick Mahomes of the XFL’ by many, finishing the inaugural XFL season with a 65 percent completion percentage and a 15-to-4 touchdown-to-interception ratio.
Walker dominated the XFL news cycle throughout the entirety of the season, leading the Houston Roughnecks to a 5-0 start. Had the league been able to conclude its campaign, Walker likely would have been named MVP at year’s end.
He was the reason why many people tuned into the XFL each and every week. Despite this, don’t expect the 25-year-old to continue his stretch of dominance should he ultimately land on an NFL roster. Walker is a talented quarterback who showed exceptional athleticism and intelligence throughout his short stint in the XFL.
He did so, however, when facing off against teams made up of NFL camp bodies and those looking to prolong their professional football careers. Walker, himself, was once an NFL camp body, spending the 2017, 2018, and 2019 preseasons with the Indianapolis Colts, never making the team’s 53-man roster.
Walker undoubtedly showed upside in the XFL, but it’s important to note the context in which he showed this upside. Though he was the best player in the spring league by a longshot, don’t expect an NFL team to bring him in and allow him to compete for its starting quarterback job.
Though it’s unrealistic to expect the uncrowned XFL MVP to win a starting job in the NFL anytime soon, he’s still an incredibly intriguing option for teams looking to improve their quarterback room.
This is why Buffalo should have some interest.
The Bills currently have just three quarterbacks on their roster – Josh Allen, Matt Barkley, and Davis Webb, a now fourth-year signal-caller who spent the 2019 season on Buffalo’s practice squad. Though one could argue that Walker would not be an upgrade at the bottom of the depth chart, his play-style makes the idea of his addition intriguing,
Walker is an instinctive quarterback. Throughout the XFL season, he consistently showed confidence in the face of pressure and wasn’t afraid to improvise when plays broke down, often using his athleticism to buy time for a receiver to get open or to simply pick up yardage with his legs.
Though one would never physically mistake the 5-foot-11 Walker for the 6-foot-5 Allen, the impromptu nature of both of their games is what makes Walker a potential fit in the Bills’ offense.
Walker is at least more instinctive and athletic than Barkley, a relatively immobile passer who failed to impress in limited action last season. Though Webb is far from a poor athlete, he lacks the on-the-fly decision-making ability that made Walker the player that he was in the XFL.
Given his instinctive nature and underrated arm strength, Walker is perhaps more similar to Allen than either Barkley or Webb, something that would allow Buffalo’s offense to continue in rhythm should Allen ever be forced to leave the field for an extended period of time.
The Bills’ offense, at times, benefits from Allen’s improvisation. Having a backup quarterback who is capable of an at-least similar level of impromptu play certainly wouldn’t be a bad idea.
There’s no risk in allowing Walker to compete for the Bills’ backup quarterback job. If he’s unable to supplant Barkley and Webb on the depth chart, Buffalo can release him at the end of the preseason – no harm, no foul.
If he ultimately wins the team’s backup role, however, he’d be a high-upside safety net that would allow the team’s offense to semi-normally operate in the event of an Allen injury.
But like every player does from time to time, he’s sputtered some.
It bleeds. It is human.
Houston Roughnecks quarterback PJ Walker has received no shortage of high praise — to the point it’s almost difficult for fans to find fault in frontrunner for XFL MVP honors.
He’s considered to be the best and most versatile signal-caller in the league on the only team that remains undefeated.
But like every player does from time to time, he’s sputtered some.
Walker was able to gut through and right the ship in the Roughnecks’ 32-23 victory over the visiting Seattle Dragons in TDECU Stadium.
But things looked awry for a more than a mere moment, as Walker committed his fair share of turnover-worthy plays — two of which resulted in costly interceptions.
This was the first game of the season Houston looked to be in real danger of tarnishing its perfect record, heading into the locker room at halftime finally tied at 14-14 after playing from behind the largest deficit in the team’s existence.
Walker took ownership of his part in the initial struggle.
“The first interception was a bad read on my end,” he told me after the game. “I saw the guy running out there, and I thought with my arm strength I could get it past him, but he went out there and made a great play. The second one was just a bad throw, a bad decision. I’ve just got to lock in.”
Walker finished the game with a completion percentage of 71%, passing for 351 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions.
The ex-Temple quarterback became the first player in XFL history to surpass 1,000 passing yards, now totaling 1,338 on the season.
The biggest takeaway from the victory should be Walker’s sheer bounceback ability and capability of getting his feet back under him in the face of adversity.
In times of hype and scrutiny alike, Walker is the same player mentally.
“It’s the same mentality every week,” Walker said. “I play with a lot of passion and a chip on my shoulder so the noise outside of this building, outside of this locker room, it really doesn’t matter to me. It is what it is.”
Walker wasn’t given a true chance to prove himself and make run for the starting role with the division rival Indianapolis Colts, but a now-retired Andrew Luck pushed for him to get a chance in the relaunch of Vince McMahon’s league.
Will Walker get another opportunity to be the franchise guy for a quarterback-needy NFL team?
Only time will tell if Walker can be successful in the NFL with a second stint, but there’s no other XFL player more deserving of the league’s attention.
If the XFL was looking for a new He Hate Me, they probably found him in PJ Walker.
People have been saying that there aren’t that many good quarterbacks in the XFL and, honestly, that might be true. I’m not the guy who would be able to disprove that one.
What I can say, though, is that PJ Walker is the most fun quarterback in the XFL. And if you haven’t watched him led the Houston Roughnecks yet this season, you’re missing out.
This dude is really out here looking like the XFL’s version of Michael Vick. It’s like Walker is literally out there playing Madden or something.
Walker is a master of improvisation on the XFL level, and he frequently turns what should be nothing plays into positive gains. In the second quarter, he picked up an errant snap and just took it into the endzone himself like it was nothing. Just casually outran everyone.
Listen, I’m not going to say that Walker is the most fun football player in the world to watch at this very moment, but I’m also not not going to say it. It’s not just me! Twitter agrees.
It’s going to be crazy when PJ Walker leads the Panthers to a Super Bowl
The XFL is a good place for players to show off some talents and make plays that could end up impressing NFL teams to look at them more closely or just add them right to their team.
Well, Houston Roughnecks QB PJ Walker did just that during Sunday’s game against the St. Louis BattleHawks as his sidearm touchdown pass, which looked like something Patrick Mahomes would pull off, had everyone gushing over his throw and his future.
Walker, who played his college ball at Temple and has been on the Colts practice squad since going undrafted in 2017, made this TD pass look so darn easy:
There’s a pretty wide gulf between PJ Walker and the rest of the XFL’s quarterbacks right now. This isn’t a product of some gimmick offense he’s made some incredible throws https://t.co/YHRIqkxCDt
