WNMU finds QB of the future nearby in Silver City

Western New Mexico didn’t have to search far to find the Mustangs’ quarterback of the future. Just down the street, in fact. A short distance from the WNMU campus in Silver City, NM sits Silver High School, and there you’ll find [player_tooltip player_id="26201" first="Walker" last="Wenzel"], one of the top dual threat quarterbacks in the entire state. In 2019, Walker threw for 1,396 yards and 16 touchdowns while rushing for 817 yards as he accounted for 2,213 total yards. Few quarterbacks in the state were as productive as he was. “Walker is a very good competitor,” WNMU coach Frank Tristan told Prep Redzone New Mexico. “I first saw hm a couple of years ago. Walker is a natural leader and a good athlete. Kids naturally gravitate toward him. He’s very driven. “Most kids have used this Covid as a free pass to hang out and lounge around. But Walker did a lot of running and working out by himself. Eventually, he got other players to work out with him in the park.” WNMU returns its starting quarterback from 2019, so Walker will either back him up or play another position in the fall. “If Walker plays quarterback for us, it will probably be in a couple of years,” Tristan said. “He knows that going into it. But he’s physically gifted enough that he could step in and play another position right away.” While labeled a dual threat quarterback, Walker possesses a strong throwing arm, Tristan said. “He’s accurate and he has a strong enough arm to make all the throws,” Tristan said. “That’s the key. You want your quarterback first and foremost to be accurate. He does a good job in that area. We want quarterbacks that are accurate, make quick decisions and are leaders. Walker fits all those categories.” New WNMU offensive coordinator Buddy Blevins was hired less than a year ago and he’s implementing the run-and-shoot offense, which requires a high level of communication between the quarterback and receivers because many adjustments are made post-snap, and requires a signal caller who knows how to read defenses. “With the run-and-shoot, it’s a little difficult to just come in and start right away as a quarterback,” Tristan said. “If he wants to just play quarterback, 2021 will likely be a redshirt year. If he wants, he could play defensive back for us because he’s very physical.” The Mustangs hope to add a couple more in-state players in the near future. Clovis offensive lineman [player_tooltip player_id="26203" first="Johnny" last="Jimenez"] has committed to WNMU and told Prep Redzone New Mexico that he was sending his paperwork to the school. However, WNMU has yet to announce his signing. In all, WNMU has announced 18 signings, a majority from the Phoenix-Tucson area. “It’s probably the best class we’ve had,” Tristan said. “We didn’t get as many players, but we didn’t need to because of Covid. We’re retaining 80 percent of our guys from last year. That’s phenomenal. We’re excited about this class because we signed some guys that can come in and compete as freshmen.” https://twitter.com/WNMUFootball/status/1357359596466106372 https://twitter.com/WalkerWenzel02/status/1357118451475644418 https://twitter.com/johnnyjimenez62/status/1356412127322497026