• Follow us on Twitter @buckeyeplanet and @bp_recruiting, like us on Facebook! Enjoy a post or article, recommend it to others! BP is only as strong as its community, and we only promote by word of mouth, so share away!
  • Consider registering! Fewer and higher quality ads, no emails you don't want, access to all the forums, download game torrents, private messages, polls, Sportsbook, etc. Even if you just want to lurk, there are a lot of good reasons to register!

Darius Walker

Jump to latest Follow Reply
Sort by date Sort by votes
I think it's obvious why Walker left. Brady and the wide receivers were gone, defenses were going to focus on him next year, and his numbers were going to be way down. His best shot at getting drafted was this year. His best shot just wasn't enough.
 
Upvote 0
sandgk;833296; said:
Two things that makes zero sense about Walker's decision to go pro.
First, his opportunity to be the feature player on offense were going to be much greater this year in ND than the prior two. New QB, loss of deep or tall receiving threats, good O-line - time to ramp up the running game.
Second, when a player goes completely undrafted they surely have some inkling that their draft stock is not stellar. What is it that we hear JT advise the Buckeye Juniors of note? If they can net 1st round then it is a no-brainer, 1st or 2nd think on it. Implication, if not a clear 1st day draft choice then stay in school.

I don't know exactly what the Walker family heard when they arrived at their decision of what Darius should do ..
but it is clear to me that Papa Walker at least is in denial, They certainly had to hear from teams and coaches more rankings of "late round" or "free agent" than "1st day draft choice."
eh, Jimmy - he had a chance to gain a draft spot, possibly a really good one after what would likely be his best statistical season at ND.
The only reason Papa Walker doesn't "know" that answer, in my opinion, is because he filtered out the negative projections he (or the Walker family) heard leading up to this draft.
Click to expand...




Darius would have been running behind a better o-line this year but he would have been seriously pushed for carries by Aldridge,Thomas & Jabbe
 
Upvote 0
NOTREDAMECHIEF;833312; said:
Darius would have been running behind a better o-line this year but he would have been seriously pushed for carries by Aldridge,Thomas & Jabbe
Click to expand...
True, he would have been sharing that load, that would also have helped his health. Still, he would have been the Senior returnee, and would have been the featured back.
 
Upvote 0
NOTREDAMECHIEF;833787; said:
1. CW did not recruit any of the players that could be drafted. 2. ND had 7 players drafted and 3 others have signed as free agents.
Click to expand...
At the risk of going off-topic from Walker , I'd have to say that the above facts make a relatively reasonable response. In talking of which I will focus on the drafted players only.
CW indeed did not recruit them - and yet he and his staff did have 3 years to mold those Willingham recruits into viable performers (hence the 7 were drafted factoid).
We can all agree that CW is primarily an Offensive minded coach - which does raise the following interesting contrast.

More defensive players from a defensively weak team were drafted than offensive players. More importantly, the ballyhooed skill players were not the favorite dish on offense.

Of the skill players on offense in the draft only one was drafted.
There were four such players.
Darius Walker (subject of the thread) we know about - probably ill-advised to exit as a junior, a whisker under 5 yards per carry, though only 7 TDs on 255 carries for 1267 yards, netted 391 yards and one TD off 56 catches by air.
Jeff Samardzija - fields of dreams over any given Sunday, likely would have been selected, though we will now never know. (That devaluation process building up from the combine till draft day can be brutal). Accounted for 12 TD by air (78 catches) with 1017 yards, and 13 TDs overall.
Rheema McKnight - netted 15 TDs on 67 catches with 907 yards receiving.
Those three are the receivers most often used by the fourth skill player
Drafted 1st round, Brady Quinn QB.

Two other Offensive players were drafted but these were from the front line tasked with opening holes for Walker or keeping the Browns future QB upright. Ryan Harris OT went to Denver in the 3rd, guard Santucci went to the Bengals #230 in the 7th round.

Meanwhile two D-line players Abiamari and Landri went in the 2nd and 5th rounds, to Philly and Jacksonville respectively. Then later we have two members of the (rightfully) criticized secondary picked up. The 6th round sees Richardson (CB) taken by New England then (7th round - 253) Ndukwe (SS) goes to the Bengals.

So the group that was the direct responsibility of the ousted Minter to develop and coach nets 4 in the draft, while the offensive skill group tallies one, and offense in total nets 3. Offense is of course, CW's primary focus.

I think that is very interesting.
 
Upvote 0
4th in ND rushing eh? Who are the top 3?

1. Autry Denson
2. Allen Pinkett
3. Vagas Ferguson

Gee, how could NFL scouts pass up the great Darius Walker?

:slappy: Love dumbass parents. Have fun living with your Mommy and Daddy, overrated ND chump.
 
Upvote 0
NOTREDAMECHIEF;833787; said:
1. CW did not recruit any of the players that could be drafted.
Click to expand...
Yeah, but he always seems to take credit for developing Brady Quinn. :roll2:

Funny how Charlie thought that Walker was good enough to play every down, then he throws the kid under the bus when he declares early for the draft.
 
Upvote 0
tibor75;833797; said:
4th in ND rushing eh? Who are the top 3?

1. Autry Denson
2. Allen Pinkett
3. Vagas Ferguson

Gee, how could NFL scouts pass up the great Darius Walker?

:slappy: Love dumbass parents. Have fun living with your Mommy and Daddy, overrated ND chump.
Click to expand...

Tibor- What does the top 3 have to do with this ??
 
Upvote 0
sandgk;833796; said:
At the risk of going off-topic from Walker , I'd have to say that the above facts make a relatively reasonable response. In talking of which I will focus on the drafted players only.
CW indeed did not recruit them - and yet he and his staff did have 3 years to mold those Willingham recruits into viable performers (hence the 7 were drafted factoid).
We can all agree that CW is primarily an Offensive minded coach - which does raise the following interesting contrast.

More defensive players from a defensively weak team were drafted than offensive players. More importantly, the ballyhooed skill players were not the favorite dish on offense.

Of the skill players on offense in the draft only one was drafted.
There were four such players.
Darius Walker (subject of the thread) we know about - probably ill-advised to exit as a junior, a whisker under 5 yards per carry, though only 7 TDs on 255 carries for 1267 yards, netted 391 yards and one TD off 56 catches by air.
Jeff Samardzija - fields of dreams over any given Sunday, likely would have been selected, though we will now never know. (That devaluation process building up from the combine till draft day can be brutal). Accounted for 12 TD by air (78 catches) with 1017 yards, and 13 TDs overall.
Rheema McKnight - netted 15 TDs on 67 catches with 907 yards receiving.
Those three are the receivers most often used by the fourth skill player
Drafted 1st round, Brady Quinn QB.

Two other Offensive players were drafted but these were from the front line tasked with opening holes for Walker or keeping the Browns future QB upright. Ryan Harris OT went to Denver in the 3rd, guard Santucci went to the Bengals #230 in the 7th round.

Meanwhile two D-line players Abiamari and Landri went in the 2nd and 5th rounds, to Philly and Jacksonville respectively. Then later we have two members of the (rightfully) criticized secondary picked up. The 6th round sees Richardson (CB) taken by New England then (7th round - 253) Ndukwe (SS) goes to the Bengals.

So the group that was the direct responsibility of the ousted Minter to develop and coach nets 4 in the draft, while the offensive skill group tallies one, and offense in total nets 3. Offense is of course, CW's primary focus.

I think that is very interesting.
Click to expand...

2 YEARS
 
Upvote 0
LordJeffBuck;833810; said:
Yeah, but he always seems to take credit for developing Brady Quinn. :roll2:

Funny how Charlie thought that Walker was good enough to play every down, then he throws the kid under the bus when he declares early for the draft.
Click to expand...
CW never impressed me as the type of coach that would love you for blowing his plans. I can see where he would be vindictive if Walker crossed him. I bet he was counting on Walker next year
 
Upvote 0
NOTREDAMECHIEF;833816; said:
2 YEARS
Click to expand...
Had I meant seasons then I would have counted to two. I didn't.
Hire date December 12th 2004.
Career with the drafted (and undrafted) Domers spans 3 calendar years, 2 full seasons.
None of which nit-picking in any shape or form undermines the contrast I drew. Else you would have had much more to say, right Chief?
 
Upvote 0
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top