Each week of the Detroit Lions OTAs (offseason training activities) three players have taken the podium to talk with the Detroit media and this week featured veteran safety Quandre Diggs headlined the group.
Diggs talked about a variety of topics but one of the most notable was his thoughts on second-year safety Tracy Walker, who Diggs said has the skill set to be the “total package” at the position.
“You could just see the progress each and every week (last season).” Diggs said about Walker, “(He’s) a guy that wants to learn every day, loves to be around myself, loves to be around guys like Tavon (Wilson), just trying to learn the ins and outs of being an NFL player.
“And you can see the range, you can see how physical he is, you can see the coverage ability, you can see all of that and I think he’s got the total package to be a good player.”
With the departure of Glover Quin, the Lions appear to be expecting a large jump in responsibilities for Walker in 2019 and beyond.
Last season, Walker opened training camp with the third team but by the end of the pre-season he was starting with the twos and rotating in at times with the ones. The Lions allowed Walker to get his feet wet at the beginning of the season, bringing him along slowly in his development and using him situationally, but over the last month and a half of the season, his snap counts saw a significant increase and it was clear he was the future for the Lions at safety.
Walker’s 89.8 overall season grade from Pro Football Focus (PFF) was the fourth highest among all NFL safeties in 2018, but his 27.1-percent of snaps was too small a sample size for him to garner more attention.
His ability to play single-high safety and in the slot offers the Lions incredible versatility and he is expected to step into a starting role day one of training camp. Expectations will be high for Walker, but he has left a very positive impression on teammates and has a real chance at developing into an impact player for the Lions.
