Tag: Wesley Walker

2024 Season Countdown: #36 Wesley Walker

Name: Wesley Walker
Height: 6’1″
Weight: 200 lbs.
High school: Lewisburg (TN) Ensworth
Position: Safety
Class: Sixth year senior
Jersey number: #13
Last year: Walker played at Tennessee. He started ten games and made 53 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, 1 sack, 1 forced fumble, and 2 pass breakups.
TTB Rating: N/A

Walker was a fifth year senior for the Tennessee Volunteers last year and had a decent season with 53 tackles and 3.5 tackles for loss. He graded out fairly well overall on Pro Football Focus, but those scores declined during the second half of the year. His grades were all 60.4 or higher for the first half of the season, and then he didn’t have a grade higher than 55.3 after week seven, including a season-low 47.5 against Alabama. It’s a little concerning that he didn’t hold up well against the better competition, but that could also be opposing teams figuring out how to expose Tennessee’s defense.

Michigan brought in Walker to help at safety after they lost Quinten Johnson (declared for the NFL draft), Keon Sabb (transfer to Alabama), and Rod Moore (ACL tear). Johnson, of course, was able to return to the program, and then Michigan also landed Michigan State’s Jaden Mangham in the transfer portal. So the safety spot went from a huge question mark back to a solid spot, partly because of Walker. Word at the beginning of camp seemed to suggest that Walker would probably end up starting alongside Makari Paige, but now it seems like Johnson is the front-runner and Mangham is pushing for playing time. With Paige locking down one spot, it’s a three-man race for the other one. That kind of diminishes the importance of any one guy, so I have Mangham and Walker hanging out pretty close together in the countdown. The safety rotation could be one of the most volatile positions battles throughout the season as a bunch of veteran players all vie for playing time on the back end of a terrifying front seven.

Prediction: Backup safety

Wesley Walker, Wolverine

Former Georgia Tech, Tennessee, and Louisville safety Wesley Walker has committed to Michigan. He picked Michigan over LSU and USC.

Walker has started 25 games in his career, which started in 2019 at Georgia Tech, where he played for three seasons. He then transferred to Tennessee for the 2022-2023 seasons, hit the transfer portal in December, committed to Louisville, spent the spring at Louisville, and then re-entered the portal. Altogether, he has made 184 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, 1 interception, and 12 pass breakups while playing in 45 career contests.

Walker was listed at 6’1″ and 200 pounds at Tennessee last season. He started ten games for the Volunteers last year and finished #4 on the team with 53 tackles.

It will be interesting to see where Walker fits into the rotation at safety. Makari Paige returns and is guaranteed a starting spot, while Zeke Berry looks like the top nickel and Quinten Johnson returns, too. Those were the top three safeties prior to Walker’s commitment, so can he unseat any of them? My guess is that Berry will stay at nickel, with Paige, Walker, and Johnson being a three-man rotation at safety, much like Paige, Rod Moore, and Keon Sabb did in 2023.

Overall, Michigan has now landed seven transfer portal players for the 2024 season, including offensive guard Josh Priebe (Northwestern), linebacker Jaishawn Barham (Maryland), kicker Dominic Zvada (Arkansas State), cornerback Aamir Hall (Albany), wide receiver C.J. Charleston (Youngstown State), and wide receiver Amorion Walker (Ole Miss), and now Wesley Walker. It seems like Michigan will still look to add at least one more defensive back, perhaps in the form of Michigan State’s Jaden Mangham. Mangham has two years of eligibility remaining, whereas both Hall and Wesley Walker will be in their final year.

Wesley Walker’s time at Tennessee coincided with current linebackers coach Brian Jean-Mary, and Walker is also from Nashville (TN) Ensworth originally, which is the home of 2024 signee Mason Curtis.

Visitors: May 17-19, 2024

TRANSFER PORTAL

Aamir Hall – CB – Albany: Hall is a product of Baltimore (MD) Mount Saint Joseph’s who originally went to Richmond out of high school, where he played two seasons, making 88 tackles, 5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, 2 interceptions, and 16 pass breakups. After transferring to Albany in 2023, he notched 63 tackles, 5 interceptions, and 15 total pass breakups. At 6’1″ and 201 pounds, he’s probably more of a nickel than a true cornerback.

Jaden Mangham – S – Michigan State: Mangham was a 4-star, the #13 athlete, and #311 overall in the class of 2022. Trying to escape the dysfunction in East Lansing, he’s visiting Michigan this weekend to potentially fill the hole(s) left by Rod Moore’s injury and the departure of Keon Sabb to Alabama. Listed at 6’2″ and 185 pounds, he has started twelve games during his two seasons wearing green and white. He has 73 tackles and 4 interceptions during his college career and was named Honorable Mention All-Big Ten in 2022. Michigan did offer him coming out of Franklin (MI) Groves – also the home of recent Michigan commit Avery Gach for the class of 2025 – but both sides cooled a little bit throughout the recruiting process.

Wesley Walker – S – Louisville: Walker actually visited last week, but I did not include him in last week’s visitor list. He started his college career at Georgia Tech, transferred to Tennessee, entered the transfer portal in December, committed to Ole Miss, flipped to Louisville, and spent spring ball with Louisville. Then he entered the portal again. Originally, he was a 3-star, the #58 cornerback, and #572 overall in the class of 2019. Overall, he started 25 games and made 184 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, 1 interception, and 12 pass breakups throughout his career.