Northwestern University Athletics
The Skip Report: They Call Him "Ant"
4/11/2016 1:00:00 PM | Football
By Skip Myslenski
NUsports.com Special Contributor
PART OF A MIGHTY LINE: Last year there was Ant-Man, the movie based on a superhero from the stable of Marvel Comics. Back in the '60s there was Atom Ant, a Hanna-Barbera creation who fought villains like Ferocious Flea while co-starring in a cartoon series alongside the mighty Secret Squirrel. Then there is Atomic Ant, the five-foot-four Sebastian Giovinco, a forward on Italy's national soccer team. Finally there is the 'Cats Ant, the junior (in the fall) middle linebacker Anthony Walker, who ended last season as All-Big Ten and Second Team All-American. "I'm not afraid to make statements, and I think he has a chance to be the best we've ever had-- and we've had some pretty good ones," Pat Fitzgerald will say of him.
"I don't say it unless I mean it, and I really feel he's got the potential to be that. Potential at times is a nasty word (because it implies a player has yet to accomplish anything). But he's already walked the walk. Now take the next step. Now you're going from a great player to a special player. I expect to see that from him."
CENTER OF ATTENTION (and this is not always a good thing): With senior Collin Ellis recovering from a concussion, the 'Cats Ant made his first start on Sept. 27, 2014. That afternoon, in Happy Valley against Penn State, he led them with eight tackles and guaranteed their win with the pick six he took 49 yards for a score. That made him the Kid of the Moment, but now, in quick order, Ellis retired; Walker assumed his new role full time; and ultimately he was physically beaten down and his performances were a mixed bag. "Just being thrown in last year woke me up a little bit," he said just weeks before last season started. "But now I know the grind. I know what it takes to be a great linebacker."
He would prove that in the season opener against Stanford, ending that day with a team-high 10 tackles, and he would continue to prove it throughout the fall, ending it with those honors and as his team's leading tackler. Along the way, not unexpectedly, offenses paid him more attention than the Nittany Lions had in his debut. "A lot more because he made plays in every game," notes 'Cat defensive coordinator Mike Hankwitz. "Now he's somebody they have to know where he's at. He does a lot of things well. He blitzes well. He plays the run well. He makes interceptions. He knows that people are going to be looking for him more and more. It's just part of the challenge he has to deal with."
"I can't really speak for offensive coordinators," adds Walker himself. "But definitely, definitely, you have to come in there with a chip on your shoulder. You know they're going to make sure they block any Mike linebacker. But when it's someone like me, who was able to fly around and make plays because of the great defensive line that I have, they'll make sure to get to that Mike linebacker. But at the end of the day, I have to worry about myself, and that's playing within the system. I know Coach Hank will come up with a great plan for us week-in and week-out, and we just have to execute it. If it's not me making 15 or 20 tackles, it'll be somebody else. We'll execute together."
"I would hope that our scheme allows all the guys to make plays," Fitzgerald finally says. "Linebacker-wise, I think we've shown over time those guys are at the point of attack a lot. From the standpoint of Anthony's game, he's still got a lot to work on. He's got to be better with his hands. He's got to be better with his feet. On contact he's got to disengage and get off blocks better. So what do I think teams are going to do (in the fall to counter him)? They're going to get a hat on him. They're going to block him.
"He made a lot of plays last year unblocked. To take that next step and go from being a Second Team All-American to a First Team All-American, he's got to make more plays while he's being blocked. I saw that improvement this spring. That's something he and I talked about this off-season. If you want to take the next step, here's what has to happen, and he worked his butt off at it this spring."
AND NOW: This spring, says Walker, he worked on the basics, on the little things, on stuff like stances and starts, like hand placement and getting off blocks. "In the fall," he explains, "you don't have time to work on those little details. It's what's-the-game-plan and play-calling."
"He hasn't taken anything for granted. He doesn't assume he knows it all," says Hankwitz, and this is one reason to believe the 'Cats Ant will again be atomic despite that attention he will receive. Another is the acumen of Hankwitz, who can scheme to keep Walker clean, and a third is the team's defensive line, which promises to again be strong enough to ably abet that quest. ("You can't scheme it every time," even Hankwitz admits. "But our D-line has done a great job being fundamentally sound attacking the line of scrimmage. When they do that, that helps him immensely.")
Finally there are the experiences already accrued by Walker, who is asked if the college game at last looks like the game he played in high school. This is a question Fitzgerald posed to him before the start of last season, and back then the 'Cats Ant honestly answered no. But here, on this April day, he says, "It's definitely slowed down. But you can never get too comfortable with this game. The moment you start getting comfortable is the moment you stop being good. So I'm always trying to come out and learn more each day. It'll never be to where you completely want it to be as far as being slowed down. But as long as you're able to play fast and know what you're doing, you'll be fine."
"Typically, by the time you get to your junior and senior years of high school, it slows down," Fitzgerald will later say, explaining the question. "You're playing so fast. You understand your system. You know your strengths and weaknesses as a player, and you can just go play. I thought during the year he came in for Collin, it got really hard. He went from being a role player, a key special team's contributor, to now having to be the guy, and it got real hard real fast. To see the way that he matured last year is incredibly inspiring to a coach because he took all the coaching we gave him, and then he ran with it and took it to a whole 'nother level.
"I think he's a complete linebacker now. I think he's got the skill set to do everything. I think he's great against the run. I think he has a great understanding of pass concepts. I think he's terrific rushing the passer. He's an outstanding teammate and a great, great leader. I expect a lot of fun from him next year.
"It's not going to be easy. He's going to have a bulls-eye on him, no doubt. I know how that feels. He'll be all right."
NUsports.com Special Contributor
PART OF A MIGHTY LINE: Last year there was Ant-Man, the movie based on a superhero from the stable of Marvel Comics. Back in the '60s there was Atom Ant, a Hanna-Barbera creation who fought villains like Ferocious Flea while co-starring in a cartoon series alongside the mighty Secret Squirrel. Then there is Atomic Ant, the five-foot-four Sebastian Giovinco, a forward on Italy's national soccer team. Finally there is the 'Cats Ant, the junior (in the fall) middle linebacker Anthony Walker, who ended last season as All-Big Ten and Second Team All-American. "I'm not afraid to make statements, and I think he has a chance to be the best we've ever had-- and we've had some pretty good ones," Pat Fitzgerald will say of him.
"I don't say it unless I mean it, and I really feel he's got the potential to be that. Potential at times is a nasty word (because it implies a player has yet to accomplish anything). But he's already walked the walk. Now take the next step. Now you're going from a great player to a special player. I expect to see that from him."
CENTER OF ATTENTION (and this is not always a good thing): With senior Collin Ellis recovering from a concussion, the 'Cats Ant made his first start on Sept. 27, 2014. That afternoon, in Happy Valley against Penn State, he led them with eight tackles and guaranteed their win with the pick six he took 49 yards for a score. That made him the Kid of the Moment, but now, in quick order, Ellis retired; Walker assumed his new role full time; and ultimately he was physically beaten down and his performances were a mixed bag. "Just being thrown in last year woke me up a little bit," he said just weeks before last season started. "But now I know the grind. I know what it takes to be a great linebacker."
He would prove that in the season opener against Stanford, ending that day with a team-high 10 tackles, and he would continue to prove it throughout the fall, ending it with those honors and as his team's leading tackler. Along the way, not unexpectedly, offenses paid him more attention than the Nittany Lions had in his debut. "A lot more because he made plays in every game," notes 'Cat defensive coordinator Mike Hankwitz. "Now he's somebody they have to know where he's at. He does a lot of things well. He blitzes well. He plays the run well. He makes interceptions. He knows that people are going to be looking for him more and more. It's just part of the challenge he has to deal with."
"I can't really speak for offensive coordinators," adds Walker himself. "But definitely, definitely, you have to come in there with a chip on your shoulder. You know they're going to make sure they block any Mike linebacker. But when it's someone like me, who was able to fly around and make plays because of the great defensive line that I have, they'll make sure to get to that Mike linebacker. But at the end of the day, I have to worry about myself, and that's playing within the system. I know Coach Hank will come up with a great plan for us week-in and week-out, and we just have to execute it. If it's not me making 15 or 20 tackles, it'll be somebody else. We'll execute together."
"I would hope that our scheme allows all the guys to make plays," Fitzgerald finally says. "Linebacker-wise, I think we've shown over time those guys are at the point of attack a lot. From the standpoint of Anthony's game, he's still got a lot to work on. He's got to be better with his hands. He's got to be better with his feet. On contact he's got to disengage and get off blocks better. So what do I think teams are going to do (in the fall to counter him)? They're going to get a hat on him. They're going to block him.
"He made a lot of plays last year unblocked. To take that next step and go from being a Second Team All-American to a First Team All-American, he's got to make more plays while he's being blocked. I saw that improvement this spring. That's something he and I talked about this off-season. If you want to take the next step, here's what has to happen, and he worked his butt off at it this spring."
AND NOW: This spring, says Walker, he worked on the basics, on the little things, on stuff like stances and starts, like hand placement and getting off blocks. "In the fall," he explains, "you don't have time to work on those little details. It's what's-the-game-plan and play-calling."
"He hasn't taken anything for granted. He doesn't assume he knows it all," says Hankwitz, and this is one reason to believe the 'Cats Ant will again be atomic despite that attention he will receive. Another is the acumen of Hankwitz, who can scheme to keep Walker clean, and a third is the team's defensive line, which promises to again be strong enough to ably abet that quest. ("You can't scheme it every time," even Hankwitz admits. "But our D-line has done a great job being fundamentally sound attacking the line of scrimmage. When they do that, that helps him immensely.")
Finally there are the experiences already accrued by Walker, who is asked if the college game at last looks like the game he played in high school. This is a question Fitzgerald posed to him before the start of last season, and back then the 'Cats Ant honestly answered no. But here, on this April day, he says, "It's definitely slowed down. But you can never get too comfortable with this game. The moment you start getting comfortable is the moment you stop being good. So I'm always trying to come out and learn more each day. It'll never be to where you completely want it to be as far as being slowed down. But as long as you're able to play fast and know what you're doing, you'll be fine."
"Typically, by the time you get to your junior and senior years of high school, it slows down," Fitzgerald will later say, explaining the question. "You're playing so fast. You understand your system. You know your strengths and weaknesses as a player, and you can just go play. I thought during the year he came in for Collin, it got really hard. He went from being a role player, a key special team's contributor, to now having to be the guy, and it got real hard real fast. To see the way that he matured last year is incredibly inspiring to a coach because he took all the coaching we gave him, and then he ran with it and took it to a whole 'nother level.
"I think he's a complete linebacker now. I think he's got the skill set to do everything. I think he's great against the run. I think he has a great understanding of pass concepts. I think he's terrific rushing the passer. He's an outstanding teammate and a great, great leader. I expect a lot of fun from him next year.
"It's not going to be easy. He's going to have a bulls-eye on him, no doubt. I know how that feels. He'll be all right."
••••••
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