Quay Walker feeling ‘more comfortable’ in Packers defense

Packers linebackers coach Sean Duggan believes the game is beginning to slow down for star linebacker Quay Walker. Entering year four of his NFL career, his production speaks for itself.

Logging over 300 total tackles since he entered the league, Duggan attributes Walker’s success to his coachability. It starts with getting more comfortable in the Packers’ scheme.

“The more you do certain things, you’re going to get better at it,” Duggan said. “You’re going to start to anticipate plays instead of reacting to plays. He’s going to be more comfortable just because it’s every time now, [rather than] the second or third time he’s heard something, and then just playing with confidence, going out there knowing what you’re doing. Now, you’re looking at the offense, seeing, ‘All right, they’re in this formation, I’m expecting this, so I can play a step faster.'”

Being able to see the play before it happens is a special trait to have for a linebacker. Reading formations, pre-snap movement, etc., all have aided Walker in becoming one of the most successful linebackers in the NFL since entering the league.

His rookie year in 2022 was his best statistically so far, and it’s also the only season of his career where he’s played in all 17 games. Walker finished the season with 121 total tackles, including 75 solo (also a career-high) to go with 1.5 sacks and three forced fumbles.

The defensive disruptor followed that up with a 118-tackle season in 2023 while playing in three fewer games. He scored the only touchdown of his career that year, scoring on a pick-six against the Chicago Bears. Walker went on to miss four games for the Packers in 2024, recording 102 tackles while also nearly matching his career high in solo tackles (75).

Walker’s career totals may have been surpassed had he not been forced to miss the last three games of the regular season due to an ankle injury. The star linebacker suffered the injury during the first half of the Packers’ Sunday Night Football matchup against the Seattle Seahawks. He was able to tough it out a month later for the wild card round against the Philadelphia Eagles, but Green Bay would fall to the eventual Super Bowl champions 22-10 during the matchup.

With Walker expected to be healthy for the 2025 season, it will be interesting to see if the former Georgia Bulldogs star can surpass his impressive numbers as he becomes more comfortable in his defense. Green Bay will kick off its 2025 regular season against the Detroit Lions on Sept. 7.