Thursday, July 9, 2009

Rookie free agent profile: Sean Walker

Sean Walker, 6'0" 180
WR, Vanderbilt


Rankings:
NFLDraftScout's 156th-ranked wide receiver. Unranked by Pro Football Weekly. Free agent grade.

Biography/Honors:
Career average of 13.8 yards per catch.
2008: Team's leading receiver. 36 receptions for 520 yards and 2 TDs.
2007: 20 catches for 270 yards and 3 TDs.
2006: 16 catches, 204 yards, 2 TDs.

Major: Elementary education.

Injuries: Missed 4 games in 2005 recovering from an offseason knee injury. Missed last game of 2007 with undisclosed injury.

Pro Day Stats:
* 4.44 40 at Vanderbilt pro day.

Positives: Exceptionally hard to bring down after the catch. Often takes more than one man to bring him down.
Has good elusiveness, can break tackles, runs through ankle tackles. Good change of direction and ability to spin away from defenders. Good hands, good concentration, can go up over defenders. Knows how to work underneath a zone. Secure ballcarrier. Catches with his hands. Clutch receiver. Tall and athletic with enough toughness to make plays over the middle and enough speed to make big plays. Legitimate deep threat. Versatile player who can line up in the backfield as well as return kickoffs and punts. Ran for a couple of TDs.

Negatives: I have a hard time spotting negatives in a player's play when all I have to look at is his highlight reel. So I'm going to criticize it. I'm not sure he can do anything against man coverage. His highlights are all quick hitters and drags where the linebackers blow coverage and leave him wide open. That'll happen a lot less in the NFL. He only had one game his college career with over four catches, and it was against Duke. That's a lot more modest production than you'd expect after viewing youtube. What's going on the 55-60 plays a game he's not catching 5-yard comebacks and 2-yard smoke routes? Something's not adding up. I'm not sure he has the moves to get open against man coverage or the speed to separate. If he did, I'm pretty doggone sure he would have been drafted, given everything else I see.

Fun Facts: The elementary education major's career goals are to become a successful teacher and positive role model to his students. Nothing wrong with that. His favorite quote, "Your attitude and not your aptitude determines your altitude," comes from motivational speaker Zig Ziglar, (not this guy, sadly) whose real first name is Hilary. Former Ram and Vanderbilt alum Corey Chavous attended Walker's pro day.

RamView: The Rams may be the perfect team for Sean Walker. (Remember the time the crazy idiot at RamView said...) If his college skills translate to the NFL field, he's got a reasonable shot to be this team's #2 wideout. Yes, a starter. Why not? Laurent Robinson's done squat in the pros. The next full week Keenan Burton stays healthy in the NFL will be his first. Derek Stanley's coming off a serious injury himself. And after those nobodies, there's a bunch of even less-distinguished nobodies. Why not? Walker's a prototype receiver for what the Rams want to do with their new offense. Grab that short pass and break some tackles. Charlie Baggett coaches him up, Pat Shurmur runs a bunch of the same stuff he's thrived on at Vanderbilt? Why not? Thumbs up. Why shouldn't Sean Walker have a shot here?

Sources: 2009 Pro Football Weekly Draft Preview, NFL.com, CBSSports.com, VUCommodores.com, youtube

photo from South Florida Sun-Sentinel

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