The NFL Draft's green room has been quite unfamiliar with Northwestern as of late. In fact, the program hasn't seen a player drafted in the first round of the NFL Draft since 2005, when former Northwestern defensive end Luis Castillo, who admitted to using a performance-enhancing steroid in preparation for the draft, was selected 28th overall by the San Diego Chargers.
Since then, even die-hard Northwestern fans have had reason to snooze through the first round. But a mock draft posted on Rotoworld Thursday has Anthony Walker as a first-round selection, going 18th overall to the Houston Texans. Walker is also ranked 19th on Athlon Sports' early top-50 NFL Draft board. Now, there's no reason to consider any of this set in stone. Infact, Rotoworld's mock draft is prefaced with a sign of caution:
Just be aware, rankings and mock drafts at this time of year lead to the dreaded "Once considered a first round pick..."
— Josh Norris (@JoshNorris) May 4, 2015
Walker might not even choose to enter the draft following his junior season. But coming into the 2016 season as a potential top-five defensive player in the Big Ten and All-American, Walker gives Northwestern fans reason to believe in him as a possible first-round pick.
But these early projections aren't a consensus. Todd McShay's "Way-too-early 2017 NFL Mock Draft," which includes just a first round, didn't list Walker's name. Neither did Sports Illustrated's mock. Or that of Pro Football Focus. But what the way-too-early mock drafts that include Walker do tell us is what Northwestern fans know: the guy is a beast and has a very good shot to come in as one of the top linebackers in either 2017 or 2018.
Walker, a third-team All-American from last year, was selected to the team's leadership council for next year and will be the centerpiece of the defense. A year ago, Walker ranked 15th in the country for tackles and now is rated the 2nd-best inside linebacker in his class by both CBS Sports and NFL Draft Scout.
So let's take a look at what makes Walker a juicy NFL prospect. Again, as a disclaimer, I'm not declaring Walker for the draft. He still has one or two seasons left at Northwestern, but the mock-draft buzz around him calls for some excitement.
Here, Walker shows off perhaps his best quality: his speed. As a freshman, his 40-yard dash time was 4.48. That's just absurd for a guy as big and strong as he is (6-foot-1, 235 pounds). In this play, Walker uses his straightaway speed to make the tackle five yards behind the line of scrimmage, wrapping up the ballcarrier perfectly. This is a speed play. There's not much else to this pretty simple play by Walker, but his skillset is so much more than just that.
Another one from the Stanford game, in which Walker recorded 10 tackles. Watch this one at least twice. The first time, pay attention to how he takes a few steps toward the line of scrimmage to read quarterback Kevin Hogan's eyes. Then, watch how he decisively follows Hogan's eyes to essentially make the tackle as Christian McCaffrey, a Heisman candidate, catches the ball. Incredible awareness, field vision and speed are on display here. His ability to diagnose plays like these is something NFL scouts must love.
All but four NFL teams passed more than they ran the ball in 2015, making the NFL a markedly passing league. For a speedy linebacker like Walker, he'll have to prove to scouts that he can drop back into coverage and make plays 15+ yards downfield.
This is a not a good throw from Joel Stave. But what makes it looks so awful is Walker's ability, once again, to read a quarterback's eyes, and to change direction easily. You can see Walker drop back into a zone coverage, but around the 17-yard line, he turns his head back to spot Tanner McEvoy (#3), open and running a slant pattern. He instantly changes direction, backpedaling and then turning to cut off Stave's throw and make the interception. When Stave spots McEvoy, the wide receiver is open. By the time it leaves Stave's hand, though, it almost looks like he threw it to Walker on purpose.
All of this makes Walker feel like a shoo-in NFL stud. But at this point, he's far from it. He needs to show a lot more of his strength and ability to make plays at the line of scrimmage and fight through blocks. Against Stanford, there were some glaring weaknesses in his game.
On this running play, Walker tries to use his speed and make a charge towards the line of scrimmage to make a play. But without a good push by the defensive line, he's met head-on by a block and is completely manhandled, able to generate no push whatsoever. This type of play shows Walker's main weakness. The open-field play last year was great, but his ability to make an impact while being blocked needs to improve in order for him to prove those first-round projections correct. Because Dean Lowry and Deonte Gibson often demanded double teams last year, Walker got a lot of one-on-one opportunities to wrap up the ballcarrier, opportunities he usually took advantage of.
Here, more of the same. Walker is manhandled, and shoved out of the play, unable to make any impact. The point? Walker is really, really good. But he has some improvements to make to bust into the first round either next year or in 2018.
A lot of these tendencies are typical of an underclassmen. Linebackers often come in with the raw speed and ability to make open-field plays, which Walker possesses tenfold. Add the coverage awareness, and Walker makes himself a viable NFL prospect, as shown by some of these "way-too-early" mock drafts projecting him in the green room. And given Northwestern's draft history over the last 10 years, that's a big deal. Now, for some other Wildcats we could see in the 2017 draft:
Godwin Igwebuike
Should Igwebuike come out early, he's a top-level safety prospect. He's ranked the No. 9 free safety prospect by CBS Sports and NFL Draft Scout, and if he has another effective season, he could come out early and get drafted relatively early. NFL teams are always looking for safeties who can both cover and tackle in space. Igwebuike fits that mold, finishing with 73 tackles last season, second only to Walker.
Matt Harris
Harris will be a senior next season, so he will certainly be expected to enter the draft following the season. He's ranked by NFL Draft Scout as the No. 23 cornerback in the draft, and could fall in the third day of next year's draft, unless he climbs the ranks significantly this next season as the team's top corner. Injuries have impacted Harris every season, but when he's fully healthy, he is one of the best corners in the conference.
Ifeadi Odenigbo
Odenigbo would certainly need a breakout senior season, but there's a chance he could sneak into the draft if he shows a lot this coming year. Look for him to possibly follow Deonte Gibson as a potential 2017 undrafted free-agent defensive lineman that signs with an NFL team as an outside linebacker.