Andrew Walter (1 Viewer)

[tombonneau]

Has everyone written this guy off a tad too quickly after he was devoured by the Ravens? I mean, the poor kid was basically thrown to the wolves in his first real NFL action.

As much of a mess as Oakland is, they are still an NFL team (sort of) and they have Randy Moss along with a few other talented WRs. If they can even just get their #### a tiny bit together, the starting QB for Oakland should be able to produce decent numbers.

Remember, it was not so long ago that people were touting Brooks as a choice sleeper candidate.

Just picked him up in my 14-team league on a flier. If he can't do anything this week at home vs. a suspect Cleveland secondary, then forget it. But right now, I think if you have the room he's a guy you can pick up and see what happens.

Thoughts?

 

[massraider]

Dynasty only, I'd say.

Deep rostered keeper leagues as well, I suppose.

 

[videoguy505]

The problem with Oakland is the line play, not the QB. Doesn't matter if it's Peyton Manning back there, if some defensemen gets into the backfield before he finishes his drop, it's over.

 

[Raider Nation]

Remember, it was not so long ago that INCREDIBLY DUMB people were touting Brooks as a choice sleeper candidate.

 

[Lauryn]

i picked up the cleveland d for this week!

that's how bad he sucks

 

[Raider Nation]

i picked up the cleveland d for this week!that's how bad he sucks

Donny could play NT for the Browns and put some heat on Walter.

 

[Lauryn]

i picked up the cleveland d for this week!that's how bad he sucks

Donny could play NT for the Browns and put some heat on Walter.

yes, i can see the brown and orange zubaz pants now (before your time)

 

[The Jerk]

yes, i can see the brown and orange zubaz pants now (before your time)

 

[Noahs Troopers]

The problem with Oakland is the line play, not the QB. Doesn't matter if it's Peyton Manning back there, if some defensemen gets into the backfield before he finishes his drop, it's over.

Peyton Manning would do much, much, much better than Brooks/Walters, don't kid yourself.

 

[toxicbees]

I'm expecting 250 yards 2 TDs and 1 INT and 4 sacks this weekend. Which is probably a bit on the high side from where FBG will put him, but I think he'll play well. Moss has confidence in him, and that's good enough for me.

 

[ExtraPoint]

Much worse than Young or Leinhart. Of course Oakland cares more about is a QB's arm strength than anything else. Neither Leinhart nor Young has Walter's arm strength. They probably should have drafted Cutler. At least Brooks is overdue to come back.

 

[Maurile Tremblay]

At least Brooks is overdue to come back.

He was originally supposed to be out 2-4 weeks. It's been seven now, right?

 

[Beaumont]

Much worse than Young or Leinhart. Of course Oakland cares more about is a QB's arm strength than anything else. Neither Leinhart nor Young has Walter's arm strength. They probably should have drafted Cutler. At least Brooks is overdue to come back.

Put the other rooks behind that oline and only Young may perform, and that would be running his rear end off IMHO ...

 

[ExtraPoint]

At least Brooks is overdue to come back.

He was originally supposed to be out 2-4 weeks. It's been seven now, right?

Got knocked out in week 2. So he should have been back by week 7. That makes him 2 weeks overdue already. It was reported last week that he was getting close to returning to practice. Shell hinted Brooks would need to prove himself in order to regain the starting job even after he returns to practice. Oakland is only a couple losses away from throwing in the towel. So Brooks needs to progress quicker for sure.

 

[ExtraPoint]

Much worse than Young or Leinhart. Of course Oakland cares more about is a QB's arm strength than anything else. Neither Leinhart nor Young has Walter's arm strength. They probably should have drafted Cutler. At least Brooks is overdue to come back.

Put the other rooks behind that oline and only Young may perform, and that would be running his rear end off IMHO ...

Actually, Arizona and Tampa have horrendous lines also but those guys have much more ability to play behind a bad line than Walter does. Cutler does also. Its not what Oakland cares so much about when they evaluate a QB unfortunately though. Al Davis continues to go after guys like Collins and Walter because of their arm strength. They are more likely to go after Bledsoe or Boller next year than someone who can actually read a defense and deliver quick accurate passes under pressure.

 

[WhoDat]

Bad line

Receivers running poor patterns; stopping; breaking or dumping routes

Drops...lots and lots of drops (Moss alone has damn near 10 between the last two games. All hit Moss in the hands and or between the numbers.)

Horrific play calling that has slowly gotten better

All of those things are out of Walter's control.

For example, Moss dropped a pass in the Red Zone that would have converted a 3rd down. C. Anderson broke free on a skinny post and NOBODY was within 10 yards of him. He never made the catch. First, Anderson never turned to look for the ball when he should have. Second, when he finally did turn to look, he completely twisted his feet and body, while stopping the pattern. The ball went where it should have. Anderson did not.

Walters is not the second coming of Stabler but the kid can play. His maturation and development will either be stunted and or stopped by his situation in Oakland. He has been given a pretty bad hand but I think he is doing a decent job of playing it.

 

[Santa Fe Trail]

Walter is really strange though in that he reacts (or doesn't react) to pressure differently than 90% of QBs. Most QBs will get happy feet, start panicking, lose concentration and fundamentals when getting relentless pressure. Walter stays calm, slides around the pocket, and keeps looking down the field almost too much. He doesn't really quicken up his game when its called for. This is great when the OL picks up the blitz, but not so much when they don't.

He still throws the really bad, head scratching pick on occasion that I've seen consistently dating back to ASU. He'll be doing fine and then hit a wide open LB square in the numbers. Yesterday he only did it once (to Joey Porter) but I wonder whether this will cease. It's the one reason I didn't like the original draft selection and still needs improvement.

That said, he's held up quite well given his surroundings like WhoDat pointed out...bad coaching, bad scheme, bad OL, Whitted has been the completely invisible, and the TEs suck. He's thrown the ball well overall, deserves better result than he's had, and hasn't broken down to this point. (He gets a pass on week 2 massacre in Balt)

 

[WhoDat]

Walter is really strange though in that he reacts (or doesn't react) to pressure differently than 90% of QBs. Most QBs will get happy feet, start panicking, lose concentration and fundamentals when getting relentless pressure. Walter stays calm, slides around the pocket, and keeps looking down the field almost too much. He doesn't really quicken up his game when its called for. This is great when the OL picks up the blitz, but not so much when they don't.

He still throws the really bad, head scratching pick on occasion that I've seen consistently dating back to ASU. He'll be doing fine and then hit a wide open LB square in the numbers. Yesterday he only did it once (to Joey Porter) but I wonder whether this will cease. It's the one reason I didn't like the original draft selection and still needs improvement.

That said, he's held up quite well given his surroundings like WhoDat pointed out...bad coaching, bad scheme, bad OL, Whitted has been the completely invisible, and the TEs suck. He's thrown the ball well overall, deserves better result than he's had, and hasn't broken down to this point. (He gets a pass on week 2 massacre in Balt)

Glad you brought this up.I see it; agree but feel it is a positive. The kid always looks calm but at times could use a little sense of urgency, as hell is breaking loose around him. That is much easier to teach and or coach up versus the alternative, which would be dealing with Captain Happy Feet or Major Tuck & Run. Those two player types would be harder to deal with in making the transformation from Saturdays to Sundays.

The play calling has changed a little bit the last few games. Shorter drops; draws, screens and sticking with the run regardless of score...over time those things should help Walters. The drops are KILLING him...KILLING him.

What I really saw yesterday that I liked was that the kid got really upset with both Moss and Anderson on the field. As much as he could, you could tell Walter got in each of their backsides for the bad play.

 

[redman]

I drafted him last year in dynasty and have been sitting on him. If Oakland even gets average play from its line and tightens up his scheme, then he with his big arm may be able to take a page from Culpepper-to-Moss and throw deep to allow Randy to run under it like he does so well.

For fantasy purposes, I'd figure that his potential tops out around Drew Bledsoe range over the course of his career, though I'm certainly making no predictions of that at this point.

 

[CalBear]

Walter is really strange though in that he reacts (or doesn't react) to pressure differently than 90% of QBs. Most QBs will get happy feet, start panicking, lose concentration and fundamentals when getting relentless pressure. Walter stays calm, slides around the pocket, and keeps looking down the field almost too much. He doesn't really quicken up his game when its called for. This is great when the OL picks up the blitz, but not so much when they don't.

So in other words, he's a less-talented version of Drew Bledsoe.

 

[redman]

Walter is really strange though in that he reacts (or doesn't react) to pressure differently than 90% of QBs. Most QBs will get happy feet, start panicking, lose concentration and fundamentals when getting relentless pressure. Walter stays calm, slides around the pocket, and keeps looking down the field almost too much. He doesn't really quicken up his game when its called for. This is great when the OL picks up the blitz, but not so much when they don't.

So in other words, he's a less-talented version of Drew Bledsoe.

Bledsoe gets happy feet big time. He also does that wierd thing where he sort of stiffens up expecting a hit and starts getting hunched over. It's kind of his version of "assume the position" in the pocket.

 

[WhoDat]

Walter is really strange though in that he reacts (or doesn't react) to pressure differently than 90% of QBs. Most QBs will get happy feet, start panicking, lose concentration and fundamentals when getting relentless pressure. Walter stays calm, slides around the pocket, and keeps looking down the field almost too much. He doesn't really quicken up his game when its called for. This is great when the OL picks up the blitz, but not so much when they don't.

So in other words, he's a less-talented version of Drew Bledsoe.

No. Bledsoe does and always has tap danced in the pocket. Pat, pat, pat, dance, dance, dance...throwWalter is just a little too deliberate with his progression.

 

[ExtraPoint]

Walter is really strange though in that he reacts (or doesn't react) to pressure differently than 90% of QBs. Most QBs will get happy feet, start panicking, lose concentration and fundamentals when getting relentless pressure. Walter stays calm, slides around the pocket, and keeps looking down the field almost too much. He doesn't really quicken up his game when its called for. This is great when the OL picks up the blitz, but not so much when they don't.

That's what Oakland seems to want. Someone like Hostetler or Collins who stands in there until the last second and takes the hit. Once upon a time, that was considered a good quality. Today it might still be proud, but its no longer so productive. Today's game is faster. No, I'm not saying he should panic. I'm saying he needs to read the defense faster, feel the pressure, and make a quick decision. Peyton Manning seems to know what the defense is doing before the snap, audibles accordingly, makes quick reads, and delivers the ball accurately while being the most immobile QB in the league. You can blame the system, but is it really that different than Chicago's? I'll take Leinart's weak arm or Young's poor Wunderlic over Walter's lack of creativity anyday. Walter is not the long term answer if you want to win a superbowl. If my team is going to develope a young QB by starting him, I want to see it be someone with the potential for greatness. I dont see it. I'd rather see what Brooks can do in this system than Walter.

 

[The Kansas Comet]

I never thought much of him when he was at Arizona State. He seems like the QB who will play just well enough to get you close, but no further. He put up some nice stats in Tempe, but his decision making was always suspect, which is something I haven't seen change on the pro level.

 

[Isotopes]

If Brooks is cleared to play, will Shell start him? The 2 wins the Raiders have had seem to be dispite Walters performance, not necessarily because of it.

Curious if it is wise to pick up Brooks for a bye week filler this week.

 

[CalBear]

If Brooks is cleared to play, will Shell start him? The 2 wins the Raiders have had seem to be dispite Walters performance, not necessarily because of it. Curious if it is wise to pick up Brooks for a bye week filler this week.

When Brooks is healthy, he's back starting.

 

[No. 16]

If Brooks is cleared to play, will Shell start him? The 2 wins the Raiders have had seem to be dispite Walters performance, not necessarily because of it. Curious if it is wise to pick up Brooks for a bye week filler this week.

Don't have an article link, but read it on the local rag that Shell plans to stick with Walter even when Brooks is cleared to play.

 

[Tom Baker]

Projections for Walter to Moss on Monday night?