Michigan landed a transfer victory with a commitment from safety Wesley Walker from Tennessee.
Walker, who started his career at Georgia Tech, is entering his sixth year of college football and will be on his third team. Walker started 10 games for the Volunteers in 2023 and recorded 53 tackles, two passes defensed, one sack, and one forced fumble. Walker has recorded 184 tackles, two sacks, one interception, and 12 passes defensed in his career,
The first thing that jumps out about Walker is his experience. Walker, who was in the same high school recruiting class as Daxton Hill, has appeared in 45 college games with 25 starts across two programs. Last season the Wolverines were able to build the core of their team around older players who understood what it meant to win, and it seems that the goal is to replicate that culture. After the injury to presumed starter Rod Moore, there are certainly some snaps up for grabs and there’s no one better to replace Moore than a veteran making one last run at a national title.
Should Makari Paige and Walker be the starting duo for Michigan, they would bring a combined 11 years of experience to the backfield — and that’s not counting the six years that Quinten Johnson will have under his belt. The value of having calm and seasoned vets playing safety cannot be overstated. Safeties cannot afford to jump the gun and must be among the most prepared defenders on the field. Having someone with a wealth of football knowledge is crucial for a strong secondary, and Walker brings that to the table.
Now, on to his skillset. Walker played as a field-side high safety for the Volunteers and was asked to cover a lot of ground. He slid down in the box a fair amount and played better against the run while closer to the line of scrimmage. He loves to be aggressive when making tackles and can jar the ball loose with good contact on any given snap, but is guilty of overpursuing. In coverage, Walker’s ability to cover ground down the field is impressive and opens up what Michigan can do schematically when blitzing cornerbacks. Walker’s overall terrific speed and acceleration allow him to run down outside runs from the box, and give the offense a tougher time getting the ball in space overall.
Waker is far from the perfect player, however. He tends to come downhill fast from his deep alignment and approach ball carriers with reckless abandon, which can lead to missed tackles. To put it kindly, he would be served well by learning how to break down before contact. Lining Walker up closer to the ball pre-snap eliminates part of his issue with pursuit angles and better allows him to attack offensive players, so I would expect to see him take a good portion of his snaps in the box.
Despite the fanfare that comes with starting at a high-level SEC program, I do not see Walker as a starter next season. The Wolverines have one starter penciled in with Makari Paige returning and likely pulled his running mate from the portal with a commitment from Jaden Mangham. Walker is a good player and will get meaningful snaps, but he isn’t the every-down safety that Michigan likes to deploy. Look for him and Quinten Johnson to serve as rotational pieces that take snaps away from the starters without a massive drop-off in talent.