P.J. Walker – Carolina Panthers QB
P.J. Walker looked surprisingly sharp leading the Carolina Panthers’ offense giving plenty of reason to believe he can handle the backup job. While the former XFL MVP candidate was far from perfect, he managed to consistently move the ball down the field throughout his time under center.
He flashed his scrambling ability to get out of harm’s way and put the ball where he needed to. If Walker can continue this level of production, the Panthers will have no issues moving on from Sam Darnold.
Walker finished with 136 passing yards, an impressive total when one considers the Panthers played four quarterbacks and were running a typical preseason vanilla offense.
The Temple product was surprisingly solid for Carolina last season in small stints and is deserving of the backup job behind Baker Mayfield while Matt Corral develops during his rookie campaign.
Carolina has developed Walker well with the quarterback getting noticeably better each season so far. This year’s first game continued that trend and gives the coaching staff reasons to be encouraged that they will be in good hands if Mayfield suffers an injury this season.
Corral struggling as badly as he did puts more pressure on Carolina when it comes to their decision-making on which quarterbacks make the roster. The former Ole Miss stud doesn’t look close to ready, suggesting Walker or Sam Darnold will start the season behind Mayfield.