Lions’ Rising Young Safety Inexplicably Beaten Out for Snaps

Will Harris

Getty Will Harris converges on a Packers wideout.

The Detroit Lions have a player figured to be one of their rising stars on defense in Tracy Walker, but oddly enough, Walker hasn’t been seeing the field consistently enough.

Sunday against the Green Bay Packers, Walker was overwhelmingly beaten out for snaps by second year safety Will Harris. During the game, Harris played undisciplined football and was unable to make the most of his opportunity, making the decision to shift out Walker look even more galling.

Often times, it’s not wise to read too much into snap counts considered the amount of in-game changes that happen, but in this case, the issue is pretty glaring. Walker has hardly looked out of place when he’s been on the field. Exactly the opposite has been the case as it relates to Harris.

With lapses in discipline and play on Sunday, Harris proved he wasn’t the right man to take the majority of snaps. The hope is that Walker gets more play moving forward because not only did he seem like the more prepared player, he was consistently better in every sense than Harris.


Tracy Walker Called ‘Under-Appreciated’ NFL Talent

Which player takes the cake as the most under-appreciated player the Lions have? Recently, that idea was explored by Cynthia Frelund of NFL.com, who picked out one player who fit this bill for every team in the NFC. When it came to the Lions, safety Tracy Walker was the selection.

Frelund explains:

“When defensive fronts and backfields work together well, the result is fewer points allowed, fewer first downs allowed, more sacks and interceptions and a whole lot more pressures (even if they don’t turn into sacks). The Lions’ defense tied for the second fewest sacks (28), ranked third-worst in terms of pressures generated (per my computer vision) and allowed 26.4 points per game (26th). This is my way of saying that the defense was not a source of strength, and the front didn’t help the back, or vice versa. Walker led the team in tackles as a safety (100), and his ability to limit yards earned when he was targeted in coverage ranked 10th among safeties who play the same positions … but Walker did it without the kind of up-front help some of the guys ranked ahead of him had.”

The Lions hope Walker can get more appreciated in terms of his standing on the team and in the league, but it’s clear with the chance they are giving him that they envision this being the case and then some into the future.

For now, though, Walker remains under the radar. That might remain the case if he continues to miss out on the chance for valuable snaps.


Tracy Walker Stats

Early in his career, it’s easy to see the leadership role that Walker has taken on, and that isn’t just limited to the locker room. So far, in just a few seasons, Walker has put up 124 tackles and 2 interceptions. 103 of those tackles came last season during the 2019 league year.

Walker has also been impressive as a locker room leader as evidence of this scene in 2019, when he broke down the Detroit locker room after one of the team’s wins.

“Hey hell of a win today man, that’s the way to keep fighting. We just got to continue to build on this week and continue to improve,” Walker said to the team in the aftermath of the victory.

When the Lions traded fellow safety Quandre Diggs last year, they dealt a team captain, but it’s more than possible the team envisions Walker in that vocal role moving forward, and it’s possible they can be expected to get just that from the young defender. They might also get a sneaky great playmaker on the back end who has his best days in front of him.

Indeed, Walker was a big reason the team moved on from Diggs in the first place. They drafted the safety just two short years ago and have big plans for him in the team’s defense.

Hopefully, those plans aren’t on hold after Walker was beaten out for snaps this week.

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