In already veteran safeties room, Wesley Walker brings five more years of experience 

In most defensive back rooms around the country, Wesley Walker would be an anomaly. 

With five years and over 2,000 collegiate snaps under his belt, the graduate safety transfer would be the veteran, “old man” figure in almost any other group of safeties in college football. But at Michigan, Walker’s wealth of experience — while notable — isn’t unique. 

With graduate safeties Makari Paige and Quinten Johnson in their fifth and sixth years respectively, Walker joins one of the most veteran safeties rooms in the country. But back in April, the state of that room looked drastically different. With senior safety Rod Moore having just sustained a major leg injury and Johnson having declared for the NFL Draft, Paige was left as the only returning option with experience. 

But with space having opened up at safety, the Wolverines were able to retain Johnson and woo Walker away from Louisville where he had spent the spring. 

Now however, Michigan has a different problem at safety than it did in April — it has enough talent between Walker, Paige, Johnson and Michigan State transfer Jaden Mangham that it has a small competition on its hands. But that hasn’t bothered Walker, who says he knew competition was to be expected before he even committed.  

With only two safeties in a standard defensive set and four viable candidates working for snaps, Walker has leaned on his experience throughout the summer.

“I’ve played a lot of snaps in college,” Walker said Wednesday. “Going into my final year, I’ve played  over 2,000 snaps. So I bring IQ. I’m a person that’s going to play really fast because I trust what I see, and I’m gonna be a sponge as well. I know a lot, but I can also learn from the other guys around me and my coaches.”

And with Paige and Johnson, there’s a wealth of experience that Walker can pull from and contribute to. But the key role that Walker is looking to play — and the main reason why he was brought to Ann Arbor in the first place — is to make up for what Michigan lost in Moore. Moore was an experienced starter, reliable in both run and pass coverages, and came up clutch in the biggest moments. Walker is looking to bring the same attributes to the Wolverines, just in a slightly different package. 

“Being transparent, if Rod didn’t get hurt I probably wouldn’t have come here,” Walker said. “But as far as coming in and replacing him, we are different players because I’m me and he’s him, so that’s just a given. But I look forward to showing the fans my style of play.”

Last year at Tennessee, Walker’s style of play was good enough to earn him the starting job in every week he was healthy alongside the fourth-most tackles of any Volunteer. If Walker translates that into defensive coordinator Wink Martindale’s system, the Wolverines will have landed themselves a steal for a one-year rental. 

However, Walker has noted that Martindale’s defense does present a new sort of challenge. Martindale is a notoriously aggressive, exotic play-caller, and Walker has acknowledged that it’s a change that will require him to adapt. 

“It’s totally different,” Walker said. “I’m used to playing quarters and getting after the quarterback that way. But with this, we run a lot of different things and different ways to mess with the quarterbacks, showing different pictures. You’ve got to be smart to be able to do that. … I think I’m a very versatile player, so I look forward to being in this defense.”

Now, just four months into his time at Michigan, Walker is pushing to be a large figure in the Wolverines’ defense. He’s fast, versatile and experienced. Even in a room that isn’t lacking in playing experience, five extra years and 2,000 extra snaps rarely hurts — and that’s exactly what Walker brings.

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