[10] Throughout the week leading up to the Senior Bowl, Walford had impressive practices and displayed his pass catching and blocking for NFL scouts.

[11] He routinely beat linebackers and safeties and coverage and was commended by NFL analysts Daniel Jeremiah, Chase Goodbread, and Mike Mayock.

[15] On April 1, 2015, Walford opted to participate at the Miami Hurricanes pro day, along with Phillip Dorsett, Duke Johnson, Ereck Flowers, Anthony Chickillo, Denzel Perryman, Jon Feliciano, Shane McDermott, Thurston Armbrister, Olsen Pierre, Ladarius Gunter, Jake Heaps, and three other teammates.

Due to a hamstring injury, Walford chose to only perform positional drills for the team representatives and scouts from all 32 NFL teams, that included head coaches Todd Bowles (New York Jets), Sean Payton (New Orleans Saints), and Mike Tomlin (Pittsburgh Steelers).

During the pre-draft process, he had private visit and workouts with the Miami Dolphins, Buffalo Bills, Kansas City Chiefs, Pittsburgh Steelers, Atlanta Falcons, and Green Bay Packers.

He was ranked the second best tight end prospect in the draft by NFL analysts Charles Davis, Mike Mayock, Lance Zierlein, NFLDraftScout.com, and Sports Illustrated.

[25] Throughout his first training camp with the Raiders, Walford competed with Mychal Rivera, Lee Smith, Brian Leonhardt, and Gabe Holmes for the job as the starting tight end.

[28] Head coach Jack Del Rio named Walford the third tight end on the Raiders' depth chart to begin the season, behind Smith and Rivera.

On October 25, 2015, Walford earned his first NFL start and made two receptions for 42 yards as the Raiders defeated the San Diego Chargers by a score 37–29.

He also scored his first NFL touchdown while being covered by Chargers' cornerback Jimmy Wilson, catching a 23-yard pass from Carr in the second quarter.

During a Week 4 matchup at the Baltimore Ravens, he made his first start of the season and caught two receptions for 23 yards in a narrow 28–27 victory.

[36] During the game, Smith suffered a fracture to his lower leg and was placed on injured reserve for the rest of the season on October 5, 2016, which expanded Walford's role.

[39] During the offseason, the Raiders and offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave mutually parted ways and he was replaced by Todd Downing.

Walford competed with Jared Cook, Smith, Holmes, Ryan O'Malley, Cooper Helfet, and Pharaoh Brown throughout training camp for a job as the starting tight end.

[40] Del Rio named Walford the Raiders' third tight end behind Cook and Smith to start the regular season.