The Las Vegas Raiders’ roster had a massive need at linebacker heading into 2026 NFL free agency, leading general manager John Spytek to sign Quay Walker from the Green Bay Packers to a three-year, $40.5 million contract.
The 6-foot-4, 241-pound backer has always had impressive physical traits, running a 4.52-second 40-yard dash, 6.89 three-cone and recording a 10-foot-2 broad jump at that size to earn a 9.63 RAS during the NFL Combine four years ago. However, he’s struggled to put it all together in the league, recording grades below Pro Football Focus’ baseline (60.0) in each of his four seasons with the Packers.
Coverage is Walker’s biggest issue, surrendering 1,724 yards and eight touchdowns in the regular season during his career, including 548 yards and five scores this past season. On the other end of the spectrum, he’s an excellent tackler with 44 ‘defensive stops’ (tied for 19th among linebackers) and just a 7.1 percent missed tackle rate (tied for 13th) in 2025, per PFF.
With that in mind, let’s dive into the 2022 first-round pick’s tape and see what he can bring to Las Vegas.
To add some context to the numbers and grades above, these two plays sum up Walker in coverage pretty well, in my opinion. Also, they occurred on consecutive snaps in the Packers-Chicago Bears playoff game.
In the first one, the Bears are in Cover 2 on the goal line, putting him one-on-one against an option route from the running back. The linebacker plays it well, taking away the inside and reacting to the back breaking toward the sideline before under cutting the route to step in the passing lane and come up with a PBU. Green Bay runs the same coverage in the second clip, but Walker faces a drag route from the slot receiver and ends up covering grass as the wideout runs past him for an easy touchdown.
In other words, he has the athleticism and movement skills to be effective in coverage, hence the impressive RAS above. However, Walker has far too many coverage breaks or mental lapses to be consistently effective in this area of the game. That gives him the potential to be more effective in coverage down the line, but it’s also fair to question why the four-year veteran hasn’t been able to put it all together yet.
Where the linebacker can contribute right away in Las Vegas is with his play against the run. While he isn’t very instinctual, he has the strength and length to take on and escape blocks in the running game.
The Philadelphia Eagles run duo in the clip above, where left guard Landon Dickerson climbs up to the second level to block Walker. But the latter is quick to get his hands up and gets extension on the block, creating some space between him and Dickerson. That allows Walker to control the block, work across the guard’s face and make the tackle to set up a third-down situation for the defense.
We’ll see a similar rep here, just with the Bears running inside zone and Walker about two yards off the line of scrimmage. Again, he’s quick to get his hands up and manages to lock out the center, to the point where the center can’t get his hands on the defender. That’s where the Georgia product’s over 32.5-inch arms come into play, allowing him to escape the block.
Finally, the linebacker puts his lateral movement skills to work by shedding the center and making the tackle outside of his gap for just a three-yard gain. This is a good example of how his combination of strength and athleticism can be a factor in the ground game.
Additionally, Walker’s size and speed allow him to be effective when blitzing or coming downhill as a run defender.
Chicago dials up another zone run, while Green Bay blitzes the middle linebacker on this play. He has enough force to reset the line of scrimmage against left guard Joe Thuney, who was a first-team All-Pro last season, and get penetration with a rip move. That effectively cuts the field in half, taking away the front side of the play call and forcing the running back to cut backside and into two unblocked defenders.
While Walker doesn’t show up on the stat sheet here, make no mistake about it, he’s the one who makes this play.
We’ll wrap up with another example of Walker being a force while coming downhill.
This time, the Bears try to ISO him in the B-gap, meaning he’s one-on-one with the fullback/tight end in the backfield. Walker meets the blocker in the hole and does a great job of being the hammer instead of the nail, uncorking his hips to blow up the block by knocking the fullback backward. That results in him being free to get involved in the tackle for a short gain.
As mentioned above, the 25-year-old who turns 26 in May has plenty of physical traits to work with. However, the mental part of the game is currently holding him back from reaching his full potential, both in coverage and against the run. So, this is a risky signing, but one that has the potential for a big payoff if Walker can finally put it all together. The Raiders seem to be betting on the latter happening in Vegas.
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