Analysis: PJ Walker showed why he’s valuable to Panthers, but backup job isn’t his yet
.JPG "Carolina Panthers quarterback P.J. Walker (6) is chased from the pocket by Indianapolis Colts defensive end Al-Quadin Muhammad (97) during the first half of an NFL exhibition football game in Indianapolis Sunday. The Colts won, 21-18.")
The Carolina Panthers’ only touchdown of the team’s first preseason game was a mistake.
With 2:04 left in the first half, quarterback P.J. Walker was supposed to not snap the football, and instead try to get the Indianapolis Colts’ defensive line to jump offside before the clock stopped. But Walker had trouble understanding what offensive coordinator Joe Brady was calling in his headset.
“I heard (coach Matt Rhule) on the sideline yelling,” Walker said. “As he’s yelling, I’m thinking he doesn’t think (rookie Shi Smith) caught the ball on the sideline (on the previous play). So I got up there and just ran a play, and made it work from there.”
Making it work meant scrambling around in the pocket and all over the field before finding rookie tight end Tommy Tremble in the end zone. Except he wasn’t even the intended target on the throw. Walker was aiming for wide receiver Omar Bayless, who was behind Tremble in the end zone.
The play capped off a solid day for Walker, as he made a preseason start in the 21-18 loss to Colts, a return to Lucas Oil Stadium where he played for multiple seasons prior to his 2020 stint in the XFL. In the loss to the Colts, there was plenty of good — positive contributions from rookies, solid pass rush — and bad, including seven penalties in the first half.
Walker also got a step ahead in the backup quarterback competition. Will Grier, who played the entire second half, worked with a lead. Rhule prioritized maintaining the lead in the second half of a preseason game, with 15 run plays to 10 pass plays, and said that being down a couple of offensive linemen in the second half somewhat limited the offense.
Matt Kaskey, who left the stadium with a boot on his left foot, and Deonte Brown (ankle) were injured in the first half and did not return.
“Will ... didn’t quite have as many opportunities, but we know there are three preseason games, and so we’ll figure out as we go moving forward,” Rhule said.
Making a return to Indianapolis, a team with which he spent three preseasons earlier in his career, Walker got the start and worked with the second-team offense, including rookie wide receiver Terrace Marshall, who has been receiving plenty of snaps with the first-team offense during training camp. The Colts also played only a couple of defensive starters to begin the game.
Walker had no problem taking chances with the football, but accuracy was an issue. He overthrew his receivers multiple times and came away completing 10 of 21 (48%) passes for 161 yards and the one touchdown.
“I felt I didn’t play my best football when I was in Indy, to be honest,” Walker said after the game. “I was always thinking a lot when I was here and just me going out there and having freedom to just play free felt good today. Just ran out there, did what I had to do.”
In his only start last year against the Detroit Lions, Walker had trouble protecting the football, throwing two end-zone interceptions. Against the Colts, he did not turn the ball over and made a couple of nice throws, especially in the direction of Marshall, who finished with three receptions for 88 yards. Walker’s longest throw was a 60-yard pass to Marshall.
Walker moved around in the pocket often and threw on the run multiple times. His ability to scramble and make plays with his feet prevented him from being sacked behind an offensive line that did not look stellar throughout the game. He had a solid connection with Marshall and David Moore, who had two catches for 26 yards.
The one play that the coaching staff was not thrilled with occurred with 14:57 remaining in the first half. On third-and-6 at the Colts’ 10-yard line, Walker tried to force the ball to Marshall when he had open grass in front of him, likely enough for the first down.
“I knew the lane was going to be there.,” Walker said. “I should have ran the ball, to be honest. I probably would have scored. For me, I’m gonna go back and watch the tape, and I know I’ve got to stop always looking to throw the ball when I can break the pocket. That’s my bad habit that I have right now.”
In the second half, with Grier at the helm, the Panthers called more run plays. Grier finished 6-of-10 passing for 31 yards and was sacked once. He also had three carries for eight yards. For Grier, this game was a return to one of his two career NFL start locations back in 2019 — a game in which he threw three interceptions.
“I did get some flashbacks. Glad I’m definitely better today than 2019, just in general,” Grier said. “ ... I think I did a good job executing the play that was called.’
The third-team offense struggled to get going, with tight end Giovanni Ricci one of Grier’s most heavily targeted receivers. Grier had a couple of nice throws, including one to Ricci near the red zone, but the tight end fumbled the pass. The quarterback felt his best throw of the day was an incomplete back-shoulder pass to receiver Micah Simon in the end zone, and pointed to a third-and-17 throw to Simon downfield as one he would like back.
“I think I moved up in the pocket too much,” Grier said. “(I) had to have a higher release throw over somebody, if I were to stay back and kind of trust that protection there, probably could have fallen through and brought that ball down a little bit on that.”
While four of Walker’s six drives ended in points, only one of Grier’s five ended with a field goal. The team struggled to get much done in the second half — the crowd noise was something that the team hadn’t expected and worked on the silent count yet as much —and left plenty to work on, with the offense accumulating 72 yards in the second half, compared to 241 in the first. Rhule did not commit to starting Grier in the next preseason game to give him more of a shot.
Adding another quarterback to the team has also not been ruled out, but options are limited, while the big test of how Sam Darnold looks is still to come.
“Today was about making sure everyone had a chance to play,” Rhule said, “I think everyone that was up got in the game, so wanted to make sure we have a really good evaluation on everyone.”
Other notes from Panthers-Colts game
▪ Troy Pride Jr., a 2020 fourth-round pick cornerback, left the game on a cart after suffering a right knee injury while defending a pass. Pride has been having a tough camp and gave up consecutive passes when targeted before leaving with the injury.
▪ Penalties were a major issue for the offensive line. There were six false starts, including three in a row in the fourth quarter. The final one of the three was called on “everyone, but the center” by head referee John Hussey. As a team, the Panthers finished the game with 10 penalties.
▪ The Panthers’ backup pass rushers shined Sunday, in what should be an area of strength for the defense this year. Marquis Haynes had a sack, two quarterback hits, three tackles and a forced fumble and recovery. Yetur Gross-Matos and Frankie Luvu also had sacks.
▪ Joey Slye accounted for 12 of the Panthers’ 18 points, making four field goals but missing a 43-yard PAT after a penalty was called on a two-point conversion attempt. He also was wide left on a 63-yard field goal at the end of the second half.
▪ Rookie running back Chuba Hubbard had a nice day, including a 59-yard run, despite the offensive line not opening up any holes on the play. Running backs Reggie Bonnafon and Rodney Smith were both out of the game due to injuries.
This story was originally published August 15, 2021 at 4:37 PM with the headline "Analysis: PJ Walker showed why he’s valuable to Panthers, but backup job isn’t his yet."
