By Wake Jatkins (The Crowd Assist Podcast)
The Buffalo Bills’ offensive line was a mixed bag last year. They did enough to allow Josh Allen to be one of the most effective passers in the NFL. At the same time, Devin Singletary and Zack Moss both ranked towards the bottom of the league in yards before contact. Beane returned pretty much the entire unit, but that doesn’t mean the starters don’t need to earn their way onto this roster At some point in the 2021 NFL Draft, Brandon Beane will dip his feet into this deep pool of athletic offensive linemen, and supplement the group he already has. If this were to happen in the last four rounds, I’d like to see them add Walker Little, who would fit well in a pass-heavy NFL offense.
A Long, Tough Journey to the NFL
Little’s road to this point has been a bumpy one. He came out of high school as one of the top recruits in the country and earned multiple honors in his rookie campaign (Pac-12 Freshman Offensive Co-Player of the Year and ESPN Freshman All-America). After shining at left tackle in his sophomore season and being named to the All-Pac-12 first team, Little missed 2019 after tearing his ACL. He opted out of the 2020 season, like Gregory Rousseau, who I wrote about on Wednesday.
By all indications, he should be a solid left tackle in the NFL. However, he has the versatility and intelligence to be able to play on either side of the offensive line. The Bills are seemingly comfortable at both tackle positions, but Beane said it himself. Filling a hole on this roster might mean filling a depth position, and behind Dawkins & Williams, there’s not much. They love Ryan Bates, but other than that, Bobby Hart is someone fans are already hoping they won’t see on the field next year. Walker Little would absolutely be an upgrade at backup RT over Bobby Hart.
Little, for one, is far more nimble and athletic than Hart. He possesses great power at the point of attack and uses his combination of length and mobility to easily pass off rushers. He has exceptionally strong hands as well, and he uses them to put defenders in the dirt quite often.
ACL Tear Tanked His Draft Stock
At least, all this was true before his knee injury. We still haven’t really seen what he’ll look like at full speed after seemingly successfully recovering. Team doctors say that there are no concerns about his injury, which is great, but team doctors also said that Justin Fields’ epilepsy isn’t a cause for concern. No. It absolutely is. This year medical reports, as the Bills staff has said, are nowhere near where they are in a normal year. I’m sure we’ll see some examples of medical reports being fudged and some players getting over-drafted because of it.
The good news for Walker Little stans out there is that the injury and the opt-out are what make him a possible value pick. Without the injury, he’d be a certain Day 2 pick. He still very well could be. I’ve seen him mocked from anywhere in the 3rd round to the 7th. Despite this wide range of possible draft spots, Little is getting some tremendous player comparisons. I’ve seen some say he matches up with Taylor Decker, some say Andrew Whitworth. And I see a lot of Whitworth in him. It’s not often that an offensive tackle stands out in a play. Little did quite often. His big frame and incredible power… There were plays at Stanford where he’d just put a defender on his back and help the guard to his right pick up another rusher. If he reaches the potential of either of those players, it wouldn’t be shocking.
High Praise From Coaches, Analysts
After his sophomore year, he was getting heralded as a future first-round OT. Before he opted out in 2020, many believed he would be a second-round pick. While we can probably shut the door on either of those, we cannot shut the door on Walker Little’s ceiling. We also can’t refute the kind of person he’d be in the community.
“Walker is mature, consistent, and will graduate in December ready for life outside of football,” Stanford Head Coach David Shaw said after Little opted out of the 2020 season. “We couldn’t be more proud of how he will represent his family, his community, and our program as a Stanford Man in the NFL and beyond.”
We’ve seen “Stanford Men” come into this community and do incredible things. Harrison Phillips, of course, was the Bills’ Walter Payton Man of the Year nominee last year. That, like Iowa, is a school where the character of the football players is something endearing to Sean McDermott and Brandon Beane.
Mel Kiper once had Walker Little listed as a Top 5 OT in the 2021 NFL Draft. If he gets drafted by the Buffalo Bills in 6 days, I’ll thank the football gods for making Buffalo the next stop on his journey. He could be the young, long-term answer at right tackle.
Wake’s 2021 NFL Draft Prospect Countdown (Past Articles):
- Austin Watkins, WR, UAB
- Dayo Odeyingbo, EDGE, Vanderbilt
- Gregory Rousseau, EDGE, Miami
- Keith Taylor, CB, Washington
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