Final preseason game personified the questions and intrigue around the 2022 Packers draft class

Quay Walker led the Green Bay Packers in tackles well into the second half despite sitting down in the first half. There’s no statistical evidence Devonte Wyatt played at all and the play on the field didn’t wildly, or even mildly, misrepresent that. Christian Watson sat out, as he has most of training camp. Sean Rhyan didn’t play until the third-string line, while Zach Tom got work at yet another position. And while Watson sat, the two Day 3 receivers combined for 96 yards on 8 catches, the lion’s share going to Samori Toure with a late push to make the roster. And undrafted free agent Tyler Goodson paid off a dynamic summer with a brilliant touchdown run. Often, we look for evidence to confirm our priors when it comes to young players, but there was no searching needed on Thursday night as the game perfectly encapsulated where this class stands as we enter Week 1 for the 2022 Green Bay Packers.

Fittingly, the first pick of the Packers draft kicked off the night with a red hot start. Though he’s played fewer than 20 snaps in the preseason so far and hasn’t been a splash play player in training camp, Walker flashed his estimable athletic traits with his first extended run of the summer. And run he did. Fast. Long-time Packers beat reporter Mike Clemens said of Walker that he’d been assignment sure in camp, but not playing with instinct.

Walker wasted no time making an impact, looking fluid in coverage and making strong open-field tackles, the latter representing one of his best traits coming out. Pro Football Focus graded him as one of the surest tacklers in the 2022 draft. Once he gets those long arms around ball carriers, they go down like prey in the tangle of a boa constrictor (or much like his fellow off-ball ‘backer De’Vondre Campbell).

Peter Bukowski @Peter_Bukowski

Fly to the flat navigating traffic and arrive with bad intentions. Campbell and Walker might just be the most athletic group of off-ball LBs in the league.

Walker’s fellow first-round pick didn’t, and hasn’t, fared quite as well. While Walker earned the starting job next to Campbell after just a few weeks of spring ball, Wyatt remains mired with the second or even third group of interior defensive linemen. While the former Georgia Bulldog likely wasn’t going to push Kenny Clark for playing time at the nose in any event, the expectation of a first-round interior defender (especially a 24-year-old) should be to compete heavily with guys like T.J. Slaton and Jarran Reed who is on a small money one-year deal.