2021 NFL Draft Scouting Report: Walker Little

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Walker Little, 6-7/309 Offensive Tackle Stanford

Walker Little Scouting Report
By Charlie Campbell

Strengths:

Reliable pass protector

Has quick-enough feet

Can bend at the knee

Sustains blocks

Quality length to keep rushers tied up

Solid hand placement

Intelligent; quick reaction to defensive schemes

Flashes some nastiness

Will throw down and punish defenders with violence

Battles defenders hard for four quarters

Can get into the chest and push defenders as a run blocker

Has some quickness to get to the second level

Will punish linebackers in the ground game

Agile in space

Anchors well against bull rushes

Upside to develop

Weaknesses:

Not an elite athlete

Balance issues

Loses his feet and ends up on the ground too often

Long layoff from playing football

Missed 2019 with a knee injury

Summary: Ever since Jim Harbaugh was named the head coach, Stanford has fielded a physical football team that runs a pro-style system and produces some quality players for the NFL. Head coach David Shaw maintained the tradition set by Harbaugh, and year after year, the Cardinal has a tough offensive line leading a power rushing attack.

In that time, Stanford has produced some left tackles for the NFL including Jonathan Martin and Andrus Peat, but Little may have been the best prospect of that group had he played in 2019 and 2020. The Houston, Texas product was impressive as a freshman starter at left tackle for Stanford in 2017. He did an effective job in run blocking and helped Bryce Love to a huge season. Little was solid as a sophomore in 2018 and showed an improved ability to protect the passer doing a respectable job in keeping pressure off of quarterback K.J. Costello.

Walker’s junior year ended before it started when he was injured in the fourth quarter of the 2019 season opener, which ended his season. He could have still been an early-rounder despite the knee injury, but he decided to return to the Cardinal for 2020. After the outbreak of COVID-19, Little decided to sit out his senior year and enter the 2021 NFL Draft.



Little is tough for edge rushers to beat in pass protection. He has good length and strength, plus is able to bend at the knee. Little sets up well to take on rushers, and once he gets a hold of them, they are in trouble. His length and strength allows him to sustain blocks to the whistle, and he is very difficult for rushers to shed. His long arms and strong upper body also give him an edge in recoverability, so even when he is slightly out of position, he can compensate by getting enough of the rushers to give his quarterback time to throw. Generally, Little is very dependable at not allowing pressure. He has good hand placement and intelligently recognizes how defenses are attacking the edge. Little also flashes some nastiness as a pass blocker, commonly grabbing a rusher in the chest and throwing them to the ground with ferocity. Little is a physical presence and a real battler who makes it a long day for edge rushers to match up against.

Little is also a plus run blocker for a left tackle. He is a fighter who has some nastiness to him. He definitely is not a finesse left tackle who shies away from getting violent with defenders. Little can get into the chest of defensive linemen and create a push on them at times. At other times, he uses his length to turn and manipulate defenders to keep them out of the play. On the edge and to the second level, Little shows some quickness to get into the defense, and when he gets a hold of linebackers, he will smash them into the turf or ride them around field. Little has the ability to play in a power man- or zone-blocking scheme.

In the ground game, Little could stand to improve his ability to stay on his feet. He stumbles too easily and falls to a knee at the second level while trying to push a defender. When a lineman loses their feet, it just about takes them out of the play and also can create some pileups that lead to injuries for them or teammates.

Little’s decision to sit out the 2020 season, even in the shortened format, really hurts him with NFL teams, as they have to go back to 2018 to see a true season of tape from Little. When Little starts competing in a NFL training camp next summer, it will be the first extensive footballaction he will have seen in almost three years. That long layoff and his history of injuries has NFL teams projecting him to the third day of the 2021 NFL Draft. Little could be an excellent value as a fourth- or fifth-round pick if he can stay healthy, shake off the rust, and return to his pre-injury form. He may need a redshirt season to get back into the groove of playing football again.



Player Comparison: Taylor Decker. When Little was playing well in 2018, he looked like Decker at Ohio State. This is a very flawed comparison, however, because Decker played well to close out his college career and become a first-round pick. Little missed a season and then skipped a year, so he enters the league as a mystery; NFL teams don’t really know what they are going to get if they draft Little.

2021 NFL Draft Player Previews - Choose Player 2021 NFL Draft Player Previews - Home Paulson Adebo, CB, Stanford Tutu Atwell, WR, Louisville Jhamon Ausbon, WR, Texas A&M Aaron Banks, G, Notre Dame Christian Barmore, DT, Alabama Carlos Basham, DE, Wake Forest Rashod Bateman, WR, Minnesota Nick Bolton, LB, Missouri Baron Browning, LB, Ohio State Dyami Brown, WR, North Carolina Spencer Brown, OT, Northern Iowa Tyson Campbell, CB, Georgia Jackson Carman, OT, Clemson Ja'Marr Chase, WR, LSU Andre Cisco, S, Syracuse Zaven Collins, LB, Tulsa Sam Cosmi, OT, Texas Jabril Cox, LB, LSU Christian Darrisaw, OT, Virginia Tech Jamin Davis, LB, Kentucky Wyatt Davis, G, Ohio State Landon Dickerson, C, Alabama Liam Eichenberg, OT, Notre Dame D'Wayne Eskridge, WR, Western Michigan Travis Etienne, RB, Clemson Caleb Farley, CB, Virginia Tech Justin Fields, QB, Ohio State Paris Ford, S, Pittsburgh Pat Freiermuth, TE, Penn State Kenny Gainwell, RB, Memphis Richie Grant, S, Central Florida Najee Harris, RB, Alabama Kylin Hill, RB, Mississippi State Trey Hill, C, Georgia Jevon Holland, S, Oregon Jaycee Horn, CB, South Carolina James Hudson, OT, Cincinnati Talanoa Hufanga, S, USC Creed Humphrey, C, Oklahoma Teven Jenkins, OT, Oklahoma State Mac Jones, QB, Alabama Patrick Jones, DE, Pittsburgh Brevin Jordan, TE, Miami Kelvin Joseph, CB, Kentucky Trey Lance, QB, North Dakota State Trevor Lawrence, QB, Clemson Alex Leatherwood, OT, Alabama Walker Little, OT, Stanford Hunter Long, TE, Boston College Terrace Marshall Jr., WR, LSU Jalen Mayfield, OT, Michigan Tre' McKitty, TE, Georgia Davis Mills, QB, Stanford Trevon Moehrig, S, TCU Elijah Molden, CB, Washington Kellen Mond, QB, Texas A&M Dan Moore Jr., OT, Texas A&M Elijah Moore, WR, Ole Miss Rondale Moore, WR, Purdue Dylan Moses, LB, Alabama Israel Mukuamu, CB, South Carolina Jamie Newman, QB, Wake Forest Greg Newsome, CB, Northwestern Daviyon Nixon, DT, Iowa Dayo Odeyingbo, DE, Vanderbilt Osa Odighizuwa, DT, UCLA Azeez Ojulari, LB, Georgia Levi Onwuzurike, DT, Washington Joseph Ossai, LB, Texas Jayson Oweh, DE, Penn State Jeremiah Owusu-Koromoah, LB, Notre Dame Micah Parsons, LB, Penn State Kwity Paye, DE, Michigan Ronnie Perkins, OLB, Oklahoma Jaelan Phillips, DE, Miami Kyle Pitts, TE, Florida Dillon Radunz, OT, North Dakota Aaron Robinson, CB, Central Florida Quincy Roche, OLB, Miami Larry Rountree, RB, Missouri Gregory Rousseau, DE, Miami Asante Samuel Jr., CB, Florida State Trey Sermon, RB, Ohio State Penei Sewell, OT, Oregon Tyler Shelvin, DT, LSU Rashawn Slater, C, Northwestern DeVonta Smith, WR, Alabama D'Ante Smith, OT, East Carolina Trey Smith, G, Tennessee Marquez Stevenson, WR, Houston Rhamondre Stevenson, RB, Oklahoma Eric Stokes, CB, Georgia Chazz Surratt, LB, North Carolina Sage Surratt, WR, Wake Forest Patrick Surtain, CB, Alabama Tamorrion Terry, WR, Florida State Kadarius Toney, WR, Florida Kyle Trask, QB, Florida Joe Tryon, DE, Washington Jay Tufele, DT, USC Payton Turner, DE, Houston T.J. Vasher, WR, Texas Tech Alijah Vera-Tucker, OT, USC Jaylen Waddle, WR, Alabama Tylan Wallace, WR, Oklahoma State Rashad Weaver, DE, Pittsburgh Javonte Williams, RB, North Carolina Rodarius Williams, CB, Oklahoma State Marvin Wilson, DT, Florida State Zach Wilson, QB, BYU

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