Will John Walker Make an Early Impact for UCF Knights?
Will Kissimmee (Fla.) Osceola defensive tackle John Walker make an early impact for the UCF Knights?
There’s plenty of reason to believe he will, with the final piece of evidence coming this past Monday night. Before getting to that, it’s important to also note what he’s joining in terms of a UCF roster that’s getting better and better.
There are players that continue to come to Orlando from the Transfer Portal like the recent additions of Javon Baker, John Rhys Plumlee, Lee Hunter and Jason Johnson among others, and the 2022 and 2023 recruiting classes are examples of how head coach Gus Malzahn has grown the program organically as well.
The true definition of getting UCF into the top tier of college football, however, is about stacking up more “dudes” than the other team can handle. Enough elite players everyone in the stadium and watching via a stream or television knows are just different from the others because of how they dominate on the gridiron.
That’s especially true with players that come up big in crucial moments.
Sometimes that player develops after he’s in college, and sometimes he walks in the door that way. Having seen Walker play several times during the past three years, there’s never been a moment of questioning if he would eventually get to elite status. A matter of time. That was all.
Seeing him this past Monday against Orlando (Fla.) Jones, that’s when the final moment of questioning how quickly he would contribute came to an end because he did indeed come up when his team needed him to. Seeing it live, it went like this:
“‘Holy cow, that’s ridiculous!’”
That moment was vivid. Hard not to remember it actually.
Jones snapped the football near its own goal line, and Walker was having none of it. He was coming downhill and that was it. Walker blew through the gap and wham!
After just about decapitating the poor Jones signal caller, Walker’s own helmet came off in the process.
Seeing the usually chill-natured Walker get up and yell was the final bit of proof for this recruiting analyst that he truly possesses the necessary desire to be a difference-maker; that elite right-now persona of turning it up to an extra gear when it’s needed to create a game-changing play for his squad.
Yeah, he’d done some things similar before, like blowing up the middle of the line here:
This particular play, however, was during a time when Osceola was struggling and needed a jolt in the right direction. That’s vital data. That’s what elite players like Walker do.
It was already evident that Walker was blessed with excellent strength and quickness by seeing him kick butt at Under Armour combines, camps and prior high school games. It was much cooler to see him play at a high level against Jones because that program has plenty of FBS talent of its own; it’s littered with college talent.
From the numbers acquired about Walker’s performance, here’s the stat line he produced against Jones: four tackles, three tackles for loss, two sacks, four quarterback hurries, two quarterback hits, and one pass breakup.
That’s ballin’.
Because of his natural skills and seeing how he rises to the occasion, yes, Walker should make an early impact for the Knights. He’s earned that distinction. Keep doing your thing Big John. The future is bright for you and UCF Football.
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