Tez Walker 2024 Dynasty Rookie Profile
Tez Walker 2024 Dynasty Rookie Draft Profile
Position: WR
School: North Carolina
Class: RS-Junior
Date of Birth: June 19, 2001
Height: 6-1 Weight: 197 lbs
Athletic Testing
40-Time:
Speed Score:
Vertical:
Broad:
Shuttle:
3-Cone:
Bio
Devontez “Tez” Walker was a two-way player at West Charlotte High School in North Carolina. He finished his career with 48 receptions, 923 yards, and two touchdowns on offense and 36 tackles and six interceptions on defense. Walker was a three-star prospect in the 2020 recruiting class. He received six offers and opted for North Carolina Central. However, NC Central’s 2020 season was canceled due to COVID-19. That prompted Walker to transfer before he even stepped on the field. He wound up at Kent State where he played minimally as a redshirt freshman in 2021 before breaking out with 58 receptions, 921 receiving yards, and 11 touchdowns in 2022. That was enough to earn first-team all-conference.
Walker was on the move again in 2023, transferring back home to the University of North Carolina. Unfortunately, though, the NCAA ruled him ineligible for the 2023 season, considering this his second transfer even though he never actually played for NC Central given the canceled season. After a long fight, the NCAA eventually gave in and let Walker play. He had already missed the first four games of the season, but Walker jumped right in and was immediately productive. Pairing with quarterback Drake Maye, Walker amassed 699 receiving yards and seven touchdowns on 41 receptions over eight games. Walker felt like he had done enough to prove he is NFL ready and decided to sit out the team’s bowl game and declare for the draft.
College Stats
Tez Walker College Stats Courtesy of sports-reference
Positives
+Elite Speed
+Acceleration
+Explosive
+Catch Radius
+Body Control
+YAC
+31% Final Season Dominator Rating in games played (2023); 50.2% Dominator Rating in 2022 at Kent State
+35% receiving touchdown share in games played (2023)
Negatives
-Struggles off the line vs press coverage
-Inconsistent route running
-Struggles in traffic and in contested catch situations
-Limited route tree
-Age 21 Breakout
Highlight Reel
Archetype: Vertical Threat
NFL Comp: Mike Wallace
Draft Projection: Second Round
Bottom Line:
Tez Walker is one of several wide receivers in the 2024 NFL Draft class sporting elite level speed. To pair with that, Walker has exceptional acceleration and explosion to make him a true vertical nightmare. He reaches his top speed very quickly which allows him to speed past defenders early in the route. Once the pass is in the air, Walker tracks the ball well and uses his wide catch radius and body control to make the play downfield. With the ball in his hands, Walker is able to speed through the defense, thwarting arm tackles and becoming a true home-run hitter.
Where Walker will need to develop at the NFL level is in his route running. He’s great on the vertical stuff, but otherwise his route tree is quite limited. He struggles off the line versus press and is just simply inexperienced and unrefined in most of the underneath and intermediate patterns. That is something he will need to improve upon if he is going to become a well-rounded playmaker. Still, Walker managed to command volume at both Kent State and during his cup of coffee with the Tar Heels.
In the NFL, Tez Walker projects as a field stretcher early in his career. He might be one-dimensional initially, but there is plenty of development potential in his game. He could eventually become a team’s starting Z-receiver who opposing teams will need to gameplan for. NFL offenses will utilize his explosive traits to stretch defenses vertically and horizontally, and get him into space with screens and jet sweeps. He will be perfect for an offense that likes to utilize motion and isn’t afraid to aggressively target their playmakers down the field.
On draft weekend, we can expect to hear Tez Walker’s name called within the first three rounds. Consensus seems to have him on Day 2, but there are already mocks with him sneaking into the late first round. That drum beat will likely become louder and louder the closer we get to the draft, especially if he blazes at the NFL Combine. In dynasty, that draft capital will go a long way to determining his final landing spot in rookie draft ADP, but as of now he is looking like a mid-to-late second rounder. If you like upside in round two, this is your guy.
NEXT: Ladd McConkey 2024 Dynasty Rookie Profile
Resources: DLF, PlayerProfiler, PFN, PFF, TDN
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