Amorion Walker’s path to Michigan, outlook for 2023

The best college football teams in the country are filled with the best athletes. In terms of pure athleticism, sophomore cornerback Amorion Walker is one of the best players on Michigan’s roster. He’s so fast that he was recently named to Bruce Feldman’s Freaks List after running the fastest three-cone drill strength coach Ben Herbert has ever seen.

Walker should see the field more this year, but whether or not he earns a starting spot is up in the air. Let’s break down his path to Michigan and his outlook for 2023.

The story so far

Walker played both wide receiver and cornerback in high school and was primarily recruited to be a pass catcher. As a three-star wide receiver, he was rated just outside the top-500 on the 247Sports composite, ranked as the 102nd-best wide receiver and the 31st-best Louisiana recruit in the 2022 class.

That athleticism we talked about earlier is evident when watching his high school highlights. Walker was able to score a lot as a receiver simply by running a decent route and winning a foot race. In his senior season, he helped lead Ponchatoula High School to a 12-1 as the 5A state runner-up.

While Walker was previously committed to Notre Dame for about six months, he flipped to Michigan after taking his official visit during the Maize Out game against Washington.

Last season with the Wolverines, he appeared in six games, five as a receiver and one as a defensive back. He made one catch for four yards and contributed a lot on special teams.

Outlook for 2023

The Wolverines moved Walker to a full-time defensive back this offseason, and that is now official on the team’s roster.

As our Andrew Bailey mentioned a few weeks back, he did not look great in the spring game, but he did earn some praise from Mike Sainristil, a veteran defensive back who previously played wide receiver for the Wolverines.

“A-Walk, he’s been doing a great job,” Sainristil said to 247’s Zach Shaw. “He’s daily trying to meet with coach Clink to learn the playbook. He’s always around Will Johnson trying to work on technique. So I know for a fact he’s a guy that wants to get better.”

The CB1 job is locked up for Johnson, but Walker is gunning for the other starting role. He’ll have to compete with UMass transfer Josh Wallace, third-year corner Ja’Den McBurrows and elevated walk-on Keshaun Harris, among others.

All three of those guys have more collegiate experience than Walker, so it’s tough to see him winning the starting job. That said, with how good of an athlete he is, I expect Michigan to use him in certain packages. He should be a key factor on special teams as well.

Walker has all the tools to be a really good cornerback. He may just need a little more time to master the position before earning a starting role.