Cody Walker: Explosiveness & Damage.

Cody Walker is tied to Carlton as a father-son prospect. For Essendon, that creates an interesting question. Do we bid at Pick 2? Assuming a Dougie Cochrane pick comes first. And if Carlton doesn’t match, is he the player we want?

The second question matters more to me. Before getting caught up in what a bid might cost Carlton, we need to assess what Walker would bring to Essendon. He would bring a lot. And there is plenty to like.

His ability to hit the ball at speed and explode through traffic is a huge weapon. He can win his own footy, receive outside the contest, find space in transition and present as a marking option.

But there are inconsistencies in his kicking and ground-level handling that need improvement, particularly when assessing him at the very top of the draft.

The standard caveat on all of this. My assessment comes from watching full games and full player involvement edits, rather than just the highlights. However, I haven’t seen Walker live.

The acceleration is the attraction

Walker’s athleticism stands out.

He is powerful, accelerates quickly and can turn a small opening into a clear path away from the contest.

His ability to arrive at the ball with speed, take possession and burst through traffic is a big part of why his stocks are so high.

Those passages can change the shape of a game. A contested situation becomes an attacking opportunity, and teammates ahead of the ball suddenly have space to work into.

It also connects his inside and outside game. He can win possession himself and be the player who carries it clear.

That combination is appealing for Essendon. A midfielder who can take the ball from a contest into space with real explosive speed, gives the team a different way to move it forward.

The question is how consistently he can bring the handling and execution along with that athletic ability.

More than one way to find the footy

Walker has several avenues to possession.

He can go inside and win his own ball. He can become the first receiver outside the contest. He finds space in transition and can present overhead.

He can also win the ball back through pressure.

It's attractive. To be a one trick pony in the AFL these days, it needs to be an exceptional trick. Walker has multiple tricks.

It gives him the capacity to influence a game through high-impact moments or through accumulation.

He doesn’t need every possession to begin with a spectacular burst from congestion. He can work into the next passage, provide an option and become part of how his team connects the ground.

His awareness helps here. He gets his head up, scans and assesses what is available before deciding how to use the ball. Although, he has a habit of trying too much when easy options are available to him.

Strong in the air

Walker is strong above his head.

There is a contrast with some of his ground-level work. He can get knocked off balance when he's stationary gathering among bodies, but I see that happen much less often in the air.

He looks comfortable attacking the ball overhead.

It adds another dimension to his midfield game. He can become a target when a teammate needs an option, rather than relying entirely on receiving at ground level.

It also gives him a way to remain involved away from stoppages. His marking is part of the broader appeal.

Kicking: better when he gets moving

His kicking needs a closer look than a simple good-or-bad label.

Walker has a habit of kicking off half a step, and the execution in those situations isn’t consistently good. He can lean back too far and get underneath the footy.

His kicking leg can also come across his body. He still gets penetration, but the accuracy can suffer.

When he is moving, the kicking is generally better.

At pace, he often straightens up well and executes. When he doesn't bite off more than he can chew, he can generate really good depth and put the ball into the space he wants a forward to attack.

It's an important distinction. He's not a deadeye, laser-like kick of the footy. But he can create opportunities by foot, leading a teammate towards space rather than simply delivering to where they are standing, turning his acceleration into scoring opportunities.

The concern is the gap between those kicks and the less reliable ones when he is stationary or trying to dispose without getting himself properly organised.

AFL football won’t always give him the chance to build momentum before using the ball. Improving those shorter, more hurried actions would make his kicking more dependable across different situations.

Clean on the move, less consistent in the contest

There is a similar distinction in his ground-ball work.

On the move, Walker can be really clean. He hits the ball at speed, gathers and keeps going.

Under pressure at the contest, he isn’t consistently as secure.

At times, contact affects his balance or he doesn’t gather cleanly enough

For a player whose acceleration is such a weapon, that first touch matters enormously. A clean gather allows him to use the opening. A fumble can give the opposition time to close it.

I don’t see a player who is broadly poor below his knees. I see someone whose handling is more convincing in some situations than others.

The development question is whether he can make his work among bodies as reliable as his pickups in motion.

Fast hands and good awareness

Once Walker has possession, his work by hand is good.

He can release quickly in tight or find an option outside the contest. His awareness allows him to identify a teammate and move the ball before the pressure shuts the passage down.

That gives him another answer when carrying the ball himself isn’t available.

He doesn’t need to break clear every time. He can win possession and release someone else into a better position.

His hands complement the athleticism. Opponents have to account for his ability to accelerate away, but he can also use that attention to bring a teammate into the play.

The defensive side can improve

His defensive intent and tackling are okay, with room for improvement.

There are efforts there, and pressure is one of the ways he can regain possession.

Building upper-body strength may help him hold tackles and manage contact.

Positioning, technique and the willingness to make the next effort matter too. For a player with Walker’s athletic ability, there is an opportunity to become more influential defensively as well as offensively, consistently.

He has looked comfortable against men

Walker’s VFL football adds substance.

He has stepped up against bigger bodies and looked like he belongs.

His VFL form includes games with 25 disposals, as well as a team-high 29 disposals, eight marks, five tackles and a goal against Footscray.

Those performances don’t remove the concerns about his execution. They do show that he can find the ball and influence passages against senior opposition. And give a bit of an indication of how he could transition to AFL Football.

Does Essendon bid?

There is a credible football case for Walker at the top end of the draft.

The acceleration, marking, awareness and variety in how he finds possession give him considerable appeal. He can influence games in several ways, and his VFL performances provide encouraging evidence against stronger opposition.

For Essendon, the decision should come back to where he sits against the alternatives available. If we rate him as the best player and would be happy to have him, then we should bid.

Walker has the weapons to make it a serious conversation. The assessment needs to be whether we back him to narrow the gap between his most damaging football and his less reliable execution. Because when he gathers cleanly, straightens up and accelerates through the contest, the appeal is obvious.

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