Round 1 Pick 22; Quay Walker, LB Georgia

[squire12]

40 minutes ago, MrBobGray said:

I think I've figured out my biggest issue with Quay in his snaps thus far.  I'm not going to pretend I watched anything of him from Georgia besides some youtube cut-ups, but from what I saw they lined him up outside the formation a lot and trusted his athleticism would bring him to the play.  When he is playing from a more traditional alignment, he plays back off the line and just beats the OL to the spot with speed.  He plays LB like a converted safety, someone who's used to making iso tackles in the open field and being too big for receivers to block and too fast for OL to get hands on.  Problem is this is the NFL, and while he's a freak, so are most players to a degree and thus technique becomes paramount.  I'm only in the 1st quarter of the Bears game, but through ~5 quarters of football I don't know that I've seen him scrape down to the hole a single time. 

Good example is Montgomery's 2nd run of the game, for 12 yards.  Walker has the front side A gap although he's aligned at the backside 10 when the play starts.  He's got responsibility there first, but when Montgomery cuts back away from it his job becomes to scrape to the hole and either fill it and force the RB to the alley or make the tackle, depending on where the hole is.  It all goes well at first: he follows Montgomery with his eyes, slides back to the cutback, and is right there for what could be a two yard loss.  Instead he hesitates trying to watch both the gap he's in and the gap Lowry is closing off with the body of the OT and gets wiped out by a perfectly timed crack back from #19.  The problem here is he's about a yard and a half off the LoS.  If you watch Campbell on the same play, as he tracks the back and tries to find a crease to shoot/fill he makes small adjustments forward as he shuffles so he's right off the back of his DL; his gap is filled and it's difficult to get a block on him because there's no real aiming point for the OL/perimeter blockers.  But Quay is so far back that he's just standing alone in space and it lets the receiver get him flush and just level him.  He's waiting for the play to come to him, but I think he's doing it because he's so used to trying to read the play from 10 yards back instead of at the LoS.  He can still show presence in the B gap from a step closer, then as soon as the RB disappears from view fire off Dean's back hip and ta-da! You're right in the RBs hip pocket squared up, and the receiver never even gets a chance at a block.

Now to be clear, neither Jaire nor Preston plays this one well either, so this is a group effort failure at run defense.  But this has been a consistent issue with his play on almost every run fit I've seen from him, and frankly it makes sense given his usage in college.  He's hardly the first college LB/Athlete to be lacking in fundamentals because he's never needed them.  He just needs to really work on trying to press his gap in the run game more aggressively when he's made his read.

College game is always different vs NFL.  Hopefully LB coach + Campbell can get him there from film and practice reps.  Might take a few weeks/ months.  His athleticism certainly shows up, so getting the mental aspect to be there....then things could really go

[AlexGreen#20]

1 hour ago, MrBobGray said:

I think I've figured out my biggest issue with Quay in his snaps thus far.  I'm not going to pretend I watched anything of him from Georgia besides some youtube cut-ups, but from what I saw they lined him up outside the formation a lot and trusted his athleticism would bring him to the play.  When he is playing from a more traditional alignment, he plays back off the line and just beats the OL to the spot with speed.  He plays LB like a converted safety, someone who's used to making iso tackles in the open field and being too big for receivers to block and too fast for OL to get hands on.  Problem is this is the NFL, and while he's a freak, so are most players to a degree and thus technique becomes paramount.  I'm only in the 1st quarter of the Bears game, but through ~5 quarters of football I don't know that I've seen him scrape down to the hole a single time. 

Good example is Montgomery's 2nd run of the game, for 12 yards.  Walker has the front side A gap although he's aligned at the backside 10 when the play starts.  He's got responsibility there first, but when Montgomery cuts back away from it his job becomes to scrape to the hole and either fill it and force the RB to the alley or make the tackle, depending on where the hole is.  It all goes well at first: he follows Montgomery with his eyes, slides back to the cutback, and is right there for what could be a two yard loss.  Instead he hesitates trying to watch both the gap he's in and the gap Lowry is closing off with the body of the OT and gets wiped out by a perfectly timed crack back from #19.  The problem here is he's about a yard and a half off the LoS.  If you watch Campbell on the same play, as he tracks the back and tries to find a crease to shoot/fill he makes small adjustments forward as he shuffles so he's right off the back of his DL; his gap is filled and it's difficult to get a block on him because there's no real aiming point for the OL/perimeter blockers.  But Quay is so far back that he's just standing alone in space and it lets the receiver get him flush and just level him.  He's waiting for the play to come to him, but I think he's doing it because he's so used to trying to read the play from 10 yards back instead of at the LoS.  He can still show presence in the B gap from a step closer, then as soon as the RB disappears from view fire off Dean's back hip and ta-da! You're right in the RBs hip pocket squared up, and the receiver never even gets a chance at a block.

Now to be clear, neither Jaire nor Preston plays this one well either, so this is a group effort failure at run defense.  But this has been a consistent issue with his play on almost every run fit I've seen from him, and frankly it makes sense given his usage in college.  He's hardly the first college LB/Athlete to be lacking in fundamentals because he's never needed them.  He just needs to really work on trying to press his gap in the run game more aggressively when he's made his read.

I don't think it's mindset. I think it's confidence. He's getting absolutely bombarded with stuff right now and he just seems slow to process. 

He's also good be stressed as ****. With as much 2 deep as we're playing, his pass responsibilities have been insane. Add in that he's being asked to eye the QB at times, he's getting a ton put on his shoulders immediately. 

[MantyWrestler]

3 minutes ago, AlexGreen#20 said:

I don't think it's mindset. I think it's confidence. He's getting absolutely bombarded with stuff right now and he just seems slow to process. 

He's also good be stressed as ****. With as much 2 deep as we're playing, his pass responsibilities have been insane. Add in that he's being asked to eye the QB at times, he's getting a ton put on his shoulders immediately. 

Which is promising that the coaches feel he can handle it. 2 games in and he may need work but the future looks bright. 

[Sandy]

2 hours ago, MantyWrestler said:

Which is promising that the coaches feel he can handle it. 2 games in and he may need work but the future looks bright. 

This is absolutely right. The other rookies are having a hard time seeing the field, or are facing limited responsibilities like the WRs. The future is very bright for Quay.

[St Vince]

 

[Gopackgonerd]

They need to give him a chance to blitz. He can take on offensive linemen well. He's going to get us sacks eventually there. It's the classic case for him vs the run where he's reading too much and not reacting, but as a rookie with so much on his plate it's forgivable. His coverage ability is one of his strong suits, he is truly sideline to sideline. You're not going to see many backs take advantage of him. Mirrored Fields on the 3rd and goal at the end of the game and stopped him short. 

I get Barry is trying the whole dare to run at us, rush 4 and drop 7 game, but you gotta have a blitz package for Quay at some point. 

Edited September 21, 2022 by Gopackgonerd

[Old Guy]

2 hours ago, Gopackgonerd said:

They need to give him a chance to blitz. He can take on offensive linemen well. He's going to get us sacks eventually there. It's the classic case for him vs the run where he's reading too much and not reacting, but as a rookie with so much on his plate it's forgivable. His coverage ability is one of his strong suits, he is truly sideline to sideline. You're not going to see many backs take advantage of him. Mirrored Fields on the 3rd and goal at the end of the game and stopped him short. 

I get Barry is trying the whole dare to run at us, rush 4 and drop 7 game, but you gotta have a blitz package for Quay at some point. 

Conventional wisdom would be not this week because it's Brady and he sees everything. The counter to that is his top 3 WR might be out this week and his offensive line is in shambles. Especially the interior of his o-line. Quick pressure up the middle is Brady's worst nightmare. Turn Quay loose a couple of times. 

[MacReady]

5 hours ago, Old Guy said:

Conventional wisdom would be not this week because it's Brady and he sees everything. The counter to that is his top 3 WR might be out this week and his offensive line is in shambles. Especially the interior of his o-line. Quick pressure up the middle is Brady's worst nightmare. Turn Quay loose a couple of times. 

We’ll drop him back to cover the parts of the field no receivers are.

 

[Arthur Penske]

 

[ChaRisMa]

I like his year 2 potential much more than the idea of him being plugged right in last year. He’s gotta have a chip on his shoulder with how bad he blew his season up. I think it’s possible this dawg comes back with a few more teeth and a lot better control over when the explosions are happening and if he can turn them into a weapon—big reason for a top 5 defense to come out of hiding.

[St Vince]

On 1/27/2023 at 7:22 PM, ChaRisMa said:

I like his year 2 potential much more than the idea of him being plugged right in last year. He’s gotta have a chip on his shoulder with how bad he blew his season up. I think it’s possible this dawg comes back with a few more teeth and a lot better control over when the explosions are happening and if he can turn them into a weapon—big reason for a top 5 defense to come out of hiding.

Yes! Don't care about the Lions game. This kid will be a star in this defense. Can't believe nobody's talking about him. 

 

 

[craig]

Getting a significant step up in performance from him would help a lot.  Obviously an important variable in our run defense, which has been routinely bad; in the over-the-middle/underneath passing defense, which has normally been bad; and in blitz and middle-pressure, neither of which have been notably fruitful.  Would be super fun if Quay really became a guy offenses feared.  

I admit some hesitations or possible limitations.  I think Quay is a sincere guy.  1.  But impulse control, guys who have problems with that sometimes always are plagued.  2.  Decision-making, NFL games are a series of decisions.  Where to go, what angle to take, how to make a tackle, how to keep a defender's hands off and get them off, constant decisions.  Last year he sometimes made some poor ones, and often made some too slowly.  3.  Singletary, Luke Kuechly, some of the great LB were so quick to diagnose/anticipate what to do and where to go.  That should be faster now, but for some guys the diagnostic computer just never has the processing speed to become elite. 

I hope those sort of things come way faster for Quay this year.  

 

[svp]

"Quay" is a great name. Feels like asking a question in a foreign language.

[OneTwoSixFive]

I always think of him as Quay pronounced like 'key', rather than 'kway'.

It must be just one of those English/American differences.

[MacReady]

15 hours ago, OneTwoSixFive said:

I always think of him as Quay pronounced like 'key', rather than 'kway'.

It must be just one of those English/American differences.

How do you pronounce aunt?