Prospect Profile: Devontez Walker, WR, North Carolina

Context

Transfer from Kent State plays mostly wide on the right of the formation in a very wide split, rarely but sometimes in the slot. Played with Drake Maye Junior year.

Before the Catch

When faced with catch man or bail coverage, he is able to utilize his speed to attack leverage and win the early portion of the route. Against bail, he is adept at getting into the DB’s blind spot. He has an effective speed release against press coverage. Against patient, physical CBs with good play strength, he can struggle to clear his hands against press with a jam at the line of scrimmage. He can get pinned to the sideline against these defenders and never really shakes off their coverage on all types of route. Against less patient DBs pressing with a jam, he can use his footwork to set up his hands and wins off the line. Against this competition he can also win when executing a space release, he has an effective hop to close the space. He separates with speed and processing against Zone coverage, especially effective against Cover 3/4.

Having manipulated the defender and got into his blind spot when facing bail coverage in the release, he can use subtle movements on vertical routes to keep the defender guessing and then turns on his after-burners to win downfield. This gear change is what gets him open, he can execute this against man too, but separation isn’t as great or consistent and he needs an accurate downfield QB to fit it into the window. He is also able to get open on hard angle routes like hitches and comebacks against Zone coverage, and he’s able to read the coverage effectively and DBs must respect his downfield speed. He’s particularly adept at finding soft spots in intermediate zones. Against man coverage, on routes that call for a two-step break or square cut, he does not drop his weight and does not efficiently make his transition, allowing the DB to close the distance to him and make a play on the ball if targeted. Against man on hard angle routes, he makes clear early that he is decelerating, so savvy DBs can stay in phase with ease at the break point. On corner and post routes that call for a bam step against man coverage, he tips his hand to the DB well before the break-point. He is smooth, but this means very little he does is sudden and therefore predictable.

The Catch and after the Catch

He has excellent hands on all types of catch, good manual dexterity and has good hand positioning with late hands on deep balls. He has good ball tracking on deep balls. On the whole he adjusts his body well to different types of thrown ball to allow him to do this but on balls that require significant adjustment to make the catch, he won’t always get his body in the best position to make the catch. He will also let DBs back into the play on underthrown balls. Not a prolific YAC-getter but he can win with speed and run away from DBs.

SUMMARY
Excellent deep ball receiver with speed, who can get open against Zone coverage in intermediate areas due to deep threat. Will not get consistently open against Man due to technique

PRODUCTION JR: 66 Tgts, 41 Recs, 699 Rec Yards (17.0 Ave), 7 Rec TDs SO: 95 Tgts, 58 Recs, 921 Rec Yards (15.9 Ave), 11 Rec TDs INJURY: ACL Injury (HS)

RAVENS FIT
Athleticism 5
Intelligence 4
Versatility 2
Grit 3
Scheme 4