How Walker Has Quickly Helped the Defense

Veteran linebacker Anthony Walker, Jr. has provided an upgrade since he moved into the starting lineup.

Los Angeles Rams running back Kyren Williams (23) runs the ball Miami Dolphins linebacker Anthony Walker Jr. (6) during the first half at SoFi Stadium. / Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

The Miami Dolphins have a new quarterback — on defense.

Anthony Walker, Jr. made his fourth start of the season in the Dolphins' win against the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday, but it was the first since the team released former team captain and starting linebacker David Long, Jr.

Long was expected to be a core part of the Dolphins' defense under new defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver. Still, Long struggled mightily all season, leading the team to bench him in favor of Walker.

With Long now with the Detroit Lions, Walker is calling the Dolphins' plays on defense, something he has more than enough experience doing.

As a mike [linebacker], you're the quarterback of the defense. You've got to earn that, and that's your job each day.

- Miami Dolphins LB Anthony Walker, Jr.

"I think I've played mike linebacker now for — going back to college because I didn't play at…yeah, since college," Walker told reporters this week. "Yeah, twelve years now, so getting that comfortability and then obviously my dad being a coach, you take a lot of leadership and skills and stuff from him. So, just adding that to my game, like I've been able to do that for a very long time now, and I'm comfortable with it. So, I take on that challenge. As a mike [linebacker], you're the quarterback of the defense. You've got to earn that, and that's your job each day."

Because Walker is a veteran, he won't be Miami's long-term answer at middle linebacker, but he has provided the team with a meaningful upgrade as it attempts to climb back into the playoff race.

HOW WALKER IS MAKING AN IMPACT

WALKER ON RUN DEFENSE

One of the most frustrating parts of Long's play before he was benched was his struggles against the run. Long was billed as a stalwart run defender at his best throughout his career when coming downhill to get into the backfield.

That's who Long was in his first season with the Dolphins. Pro Football Focus (PFF) grades aren't the end-all-be-all on player evaluation, but Long's 93.4-run defense grade from 2023 is hard to ignore. Fast forward to 2024, and Long's grade was down to 41.2 points.

On film, that was primarily due to poor tackling and over-aggressiveness for shooting gaps. Long was shooting the wrong gaps against the run and missing tackles when he picked the right ones, leaving huge gaps in Miami's front.

Walker has cleaned up most of that, as he's recorded 81.1 and 75.3 run defense grades in the past two weeks.

He doesn't quite have Long's upside for big plays, but he's been much more consistent. Despite missing Long's explosiveness downhill, Walker stays in his responsibilities, which means more 4-yard runs and fewer 20-yard runs.

Miami has held its last four opponents to less than 100 yards rushing, something Walker thinks required quite a simple fix.

"Yeah, same thing. Just guys just executing, doing their job," Walker said. "That's all run game, is just being in your position so whether you make the play or another guy makes the play, it doesn't hit in your gap or…yeah. [laughter] Don't want to say too much."

Because of its recent strong play, the defense ranks 10th-best in rushing yards allowed per game. Attributing all that success to Walker would be foolish, but he's made a considerable impact.

Walker has recorded five run stops — a tackle that constitutes a failure for the offense — in the team's last two games and has ten of them this season. In Long's last two starts, he recorded just two run stops and had 14 total before he was released.

Going back to missed tackles, Long was charged with 14 missed tackles in his six starts, including a whopping seven combined in Weeks 7 and 8 against the Colts and Cardinals, respectively.

Walker hasn't been charged with one missed tackle in the past two games against the Raiders and Rams, and he has just three total this season. Walker's missed tackle percentage for the season is just seven percent, while Long's was 28 percent.

Since Walker is a full-time starter, that number is likely to increase a bit, but he's playing significantly better than Long in this capacity, and it would take an epic collapse for that to change.

WALKER IN PASS COVERAGE

Walker has also been better than Long in coverage. Walker's NFL passer rating allowed in coverage is 76.2, while Long's is 125.7. Long was benched following the Cardinals game partly because he played badly in coverage.

He was targeted eight times in that game and allowed eight catches 93 yards, with 45 coming after the catch. The Cardinals singled out Long as a weakness and made picking on him a huge part of the game plan.

Coverage isn't a strength of Walker's game. He's not the fastest linebacker in the world, and he can overcommit to backfield fakes, but he's done a nice job limiting YAC this season. Walker allowed seven catches against the Bills, but they only went for 30 yards after the catch.

Linebackers are going to allow receptions. They tend to play in space and fall victim to quarterbacks willing to take check-downs. The key is keeping those check-downs to short gains.

Since being inserted into the lineup, Walker has mostly done that. He's not doing anything groundbreaking, but he's communicating effectively with other zone defenders and not giving up big plays.

"Just try to do my job," Walker said. "As a mike linebacker, you've got to control the tempo and keep everybody calm in each situation and then the communication, make sure my communication is up to par so that the guys can execute and we all execute and do our job on the same page. So, I'm just trying to do my job. Not too much, don't try to do nobody else's job, just mine."

Overall, Walker has raised the floor of Miami's defense in the past few weeks. He's been a more consistent, reliable presence for a team with little room for error, sitting at 4-6.

Walker knows consistency is critical because the team treats every game like a playoff one.

"We've kind of basically entered the playoffs a little early in our mindset; we've just got to keep stacking wins and just taking it one week at a time," Walker said. "Each game has pretty much come down to must-win, so that's our mindset."

If the Dolphins do make it to the postseason, you could point to Walker taking over for Long as a small but important reason.