Player Profile: Ben Walk

Ben Walk’s time has been coming for a while now.

As a sophomore in 2024, Walk was the backup to his brother Ashton, Tyrone’s record-setting quarterback who as a senior became the first Golden Eagle signal-caller to throw for 3,000 yards in a single season.

It was widely assumed Ben would succeed Ashton in 2025, but those plans changed when Eli Woomer had a terrific summer taking the snaps. Walk was then shifted to playing tight end, and Woomer passed for more than 1,400 yards.

But it wasn’t the smooth transition it might look like on paper. The fact was, against the best teams, Woomer was always one receiver away from having the kind of complete receiving arsenal that made Ashton Walk so deadly for four seasons.

Here was the problem: Woomer was that missing receiver. He went into 2025 coming off a junior season in which he had 811 yards as a pass catcher, making him one of only nine receivers at Tyrone to eclipse 1,000 yards in a career.

He could throw to Mason Emigh. He could throw to Brayden Parsons. But he couldn’t throw to himself, and that ultimately limited what the offense could do because he was a playmaker by trade.

At the same time, Walk was spinning his wheels as a tight end. While Franco liked what he could do as a blocker, he had just one reception through the first seven games.

By Week 8, Coach John Franco began remedying the situation, and that meant giving Walk significant snaps on Friday nights.

He didn’t disappoint. Over the final four games of the seasons, while splitting time with Woomer, Walk completed 25 of 59 passes for 404 yards and 4 touchdowns. He threw for more than 100 yards in each of his final two games.

Now, it’s safe to say, Walk’s time has come, and new coach Jason Jones has high hopes for his senior quarterback.

“He’s been excellent to this point, and we’re very excited about the season he could have,” Jones said. “When I first took the job, one of the most important things I thought there had to be was buy-in from the quarterback. (It had to be) somebody who was going to show up consistently. Ben’s been to everything we’ve had in the offseason leading up to right now.

What I like about him is he’s smart enough, he knows the game well enough, to know this is a place I can take a shot. This is a place to be smart and take a check-down. Little things like that.

Coach Jason Jones

That excitement stems partially from what Walk brings to the table physically, which is substantial. He’s 6-foot-4 with a live arm.

But for Jones, what he’s liked most about Walk is his ability to pick up on the offense and utilize his understanding of the game to make good decisions.

“The mental part has been excellent,” Jones said. “He works with the wide-outs very well. He moves the ball around. But what I like about him is he’s smart enough, he knows the game well enough, to know this is a place I can take a shot. This is a place to be smart and take a check-down. Little things like that. Picking up the offense, he has been excellent so far.”

One of the aspects of Woomer’s game a season ago that made him an enticing candidate for the quarterback spot was his mobility. He was a player who could move out of the pocket with ease, throw on the run, and run with intention in RPO situations.

In comparison, Walk is much more of a traditional pocket quarterback, but Jones has seen enough to have confidence that he can get yards with his feet if he has to.

“What I like most about him and his mobility is he’s someone who teams are definitely going to know can throw the ball from the pocket,” Jones said, “so they have to respect your playmakers, your wide-outs, on the outside. Depending on the numbers you have in the box, Ben can play a role in that mobility game. I can tell you right now, if there’s a time and place, I would feel comfortable putting the ball in his hands on a fourth-and-2 to get us a first down on Friday night.”

It’s been a circuitous journey for Walk, one that forced him to wait his turn and then wait his turn again, but the winding road led him back to the place where everyone thought he would be by the time he was a senior.