P.J. Walker: Grading the Panthers QB’s debut in win vs. Lions
By Dean Jones
The bad from P.J. Walker vs. Lions
There were some areas of concern regarding P.J Walker during an encouraging debut overall. His stats would have looked far better had he not thrown two crucial interceptions in the red zone and although the Carolina Panthers got away with this in the face of a struggling team such as the Lions, they wouldn’t be so fortunate against some of the high-quality opposition they’ve faced over the last few weeks.
The game is a lot tighter at the business end of the field and Walker will need to improve in this regard if he is under center once again at the Minnesota Vikings. Teddy Bridgewater will do everything in his power to suit up at the team that drafted him in the first round. But the Panthers need to air on the side of caution given his injury history.
Walker also missed some wide-open looks at crucial times, which came as a result of failing to go through his progressions quickly enough. Playing in college and the XFL is one thing, but the game is much faster in the big leagues, and processing information can be the difference between winning and losing.
It would’ve also been nice to see Walker put his running ability to better use. The Panthers ran a lot of read-options that eventually ended with the quarterback giving up the football, which does feel like a missed opportunity for the player to further enhance his overall influence during a game that Carolina dominated from start-to-finish.