Film room: How DL DeMarcus Walker has added to his repertoire & improved his stock

Entering training camp, the Denver Broncos' former second-round pick DeMarcus Walker was struggling and looking like he would not make this roster.

However, after the first few days, he quickly turned things around and started looking great in practice. The question then became, could he translate his practice performance into games?

Kicking off the preseason with the Hall of Fame Game, Walker made a statement. He is here and we should notice him.

The game he had vs. Atlanta was a good one, and a great step forward for the 53-man roster. There were some issues, mainly with consistency, but he flashed improvements against the run and was able to generate pressure.

Then something changed and Walker regressed. When he was noticed against the Seahawks in the second preseason game, it was for getting blown off the line in the run game, or getting no push as a pass rusher.

It was a horrible Game 2, and instead of building on the preseason opener, Walker took four steps back. That game was followed up with another really poor showing against the Niners in Game 3, where the same issues were on display.

Consistency has always been the issue with Walker and he continues to show that he lacks it. Heading into last Saturday night's game vs. the L.A. Rams, he really had to turn things around or else risk having played himself off the roster.

Other Broncos defensive linemen were improving and getting noticed for positive impact, while it was just negative after negative from Walker.

Taking on the Rams, Walker elevated his profile once again, this time for positive reasons. Not only did he manage to bounce back, he put together the best game for him of the preseason.

There is one game left to go, and in the preseason finale, Walker has to show he can build on this strong finish and not disappear again. He needs to show consistency, bottom line.

There were three plays vs. the Rams that really stood out that show just how much growth Walker has displayed this season.

Play 1

Walker is lined up as the 4i technique on the defensive line with Mike Purcell (who also killed it this game) on his left and LB Justin Hollins (also impressive) to his right. The Rams are looking like they are going to run it from 12 personnel.

Off the snap, Walker is quick to fire off and he does a good job getting underneath the tackle and putting him on his heels. Leverage is something that was non-existent in his play a season ago, so this is a good sign of growth.

With the tackle is on his heels, Walker adjusts his hands, gives a shove to the tackle to the side then quickly pulls his hands down and goes under the tackle's arms to get up the middle. Walker finishes the play by making the quarterback uncomfortable with his pressure.

There are a lot of positives to take away on this play. It isn’t just Walker's use of leverage, but also his combining of different attack methods and moves to apply the pressure.

This is something that he has hardly ever done and he's certainly never chained them together this quickly. He looks like a different player from where he was a year ago, which is great. He seems to finally be turning the corner.

Play 2

Walker is lined up as the 1-tech, which makes this play a little more impressive. The Rams are bunched up tight in 11 personnel set. They’re trying to sell a stretch run off the right, which puts Walker up against the left guard.

Once again, we see Walker use leverage, and he keeps the guard off his body once he gets his arms to full extension. He is in a position to make a play against the ball-carrier, patiently waiting. However, once it is clear it is a pass and not a run, Walker switches to attack mode.

He immediately goes in, swiping the guard's hands off his body, taking the left guard's outside shoulder and gets in the QB's face. It did look like the guard was expecting help, but Walker played this perfectly.

Patience is important for defensive linemen and something that has hurt Walker multiple times in the few regular-season snaps he has had. He has good technique to keep the guard off of him here, which is a tremendous improvement from where he was at as a run defender.

The best thing to me in this play is how quickly Walker reacts to it being a play-action and the simple hand-swipe to keep the guard's hands off of him to apply the pressure.

Could he have been faster with the reading of the play-action? Of course, as Walker was a little late to the party, but he managed to make up for it with good quickness and burst, as well as a good and simple pass rush move.

Play 3

In this final play, Walker is lined up as a 4-tech on the left tackle and he ends up engaging the left guard. The left guard leans to meet Walker, and Walker uses that to his advantage. He puts his hands on the guard, pushes him down some and just swims right past him over the inside shoulder. This is the most direct path to the QB for Walker.

It is a great combination to get the pressure — it's just unfortunate that a coverage breakdown leads to this being a positive play for the Rams. There isn’t anything Walker could have done better on this play.

I come away really impressed with Walker on this play and how quickly he combined the slight push down to the swim move. As mentioned before, combining moves has been an issue for Walker in the past and this game he put on display that he has developed his repertoire.

The takeaway

It's hard to imagine DeMarcus Walker not making the Broncos' 53-man roster at this point. Are there still areas he needs to improve on? Heck, yes.

But he is a lot farther along than many expected him to be this year. The growth is evident and there seems to be more desire from the player. Still, the Broncos need to see consistency, but the positive steps for Walker are clear as day.

Follow Erick on Twitter @ErickTrickel.