CLASS IMPACT: WR Amorion Walker To Notre Dame
Notre Dame has landed a commitment from Ponchatoula (La.) High School wide receiver Amorion Walker.
Walker is a consensus three-star recruit that is ranked as the 92nd best wide receiver in the country by 247Sports and the 33rd best player from the state of Louisiana. Walker ranks as the No. 859 player in the country on the 247Sports composite list.
Walker had offers from Florida State, Arkansas, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Kansas State, West Virginia, Virginia Tech, Washington State, Georgia Tech and Kansas.
Let’s take a look at what Walker’s commitment means for the Notre Dame 2022 recruiting class and the depth chart.
CLASS IMPACT
Walker is the ninth overall commitment in the 2022 class, the sixth offensive player and the first wide receiver.
Notre Dame didn’t have a need for numbers in the 2022 class at wide receiver thanks to landing back-to-back outstanding three-man classes in 2020 (Jordan Johnson, Xavier Watts, Jay Brunelle) and 2021 (Lorenzo Styles Jr., Deion Colzie, Jayden Thomas). The focus in this class needed to be on impact talent, and ideally at least one bigger receiver.
Walker certainly adds length to the position, checking in at 6-3 and 170 pounds. He’s thin, but he has the length Notre Dame likes on the boundary.
While Walker is a fine player with solid upside, he does not meet the impact talent criteria. Notre Dame has been struggling to get traction with top wide receivers in the class, even players who are very close to the Notre Dame campus. Taking a wide receiver this early with Walker’s talent certainly helps ensure the Irish get a solid player, but he doesn’t have the impact upside needed for Notre Dame to move the needle.
NOTRE DAME FIT
Walker fits ideally into the boundary position in the Notre Dame offense, due mainly to his length and impressive ball skills. That is the best part of Walker’s game, his ball skills. He tracks the deep ball quite well and he is a confident pass catcher that will attack the football away from his body.
Walker’s length and ball skills project well to the red zone, and as he gets stronger he’ll be effective on the back shoulder throws that Notre Dame likes to use with the boundary receiver. He is a quality route runner on short to intermediate routes, which also fits into what Notre Dame will ask him to do.
The issue with Walker is a lack of speed, explosiveness and foot quickness. Even as a cornerback the Ponchatoula wideout is a bit heavy footed. He’s a long strider and he can cover some ground, but he lacks a burst or a gear that you want in a wideout that can stretch the field. Walker fits the mold of a Ben Skowronek type of player in that he can be a chain mover, but against better defenses he’s not going to be much of a threat vertically, and he’s going to struggle with separation.
Walker will need to get a lot stronger as well. Being a boundary receiver requires a player to be a bit more physical. Walker is more than willing to mix it up, but he lacks the strength of past successful boundary players for the Irish.
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