Cardinals Met With Top Draft LB

How often do you find a player in a draft class who feels like an absolute perfect fit for your team in every which way?

It happens a handful of times in each draft, but not for every team. The Arizona Cardinals have a handful of guys who feel like they could fit that narrative, but none more so than Georgia LB Jalon Walker, who the Cardinals used a Top 30 visit on ahead of the 2025 NFL Draft.

🚨BREAKING NEWS🚨

The Arizona Cardinals will use top 30 visits on Georgia's Jalon Walker and Tennessee's James Pearce Jr., per @MikeGarafolo. pic.twitter.com/dh4JquJDn3
— PHNX Cardinals (@PHNX_Cardinals) April 3, 2025

It’s not hard to figure out why.

Walker is quite an interesting player. He was a top recruit out of high school as a linebacker and spent quite a bit of time lining up there for the Bulldogs. This past season, Georgia flirted with Walker being an edge rusher and the results were outstanding. They were so good, in fact, that his projection at the next level is as a full-time edge rusher.

Perhaps this sounds familiar to Cardinals fans.

It wasn’t long ago that a linebacker prospect out of Temple had a very similar projection from college to the pros. Of course, that player worked out big-time when he finally got the right coaching, which didn’t come in the desert.

The player I’m referring to of course is Haason Reddick — someone many Cardinal fans consider “the one who got away.”

I do think there are some weak comparisons you can create between the two players, but their potential projection they face as draft prospects feels identical.

Perhaps this provides some PTSD for Cardinals fans, but it could also be perceived as the franchise’s chance for redemption.

Beyond the hope of him becoming the player they wanted Reddick to be with the Cardinals, and what he eventually became when he left, the biggest enticing factor for me is how insanely great of a fit he would be for this defense.

We’ve seen the importance both Jonathan Gannon and Nick Rallis have placed on this defense when it comes to versatile defenders; guys who can accomplish more tasks than one have immense value for this team.

A guy like Walker presents that value.

That’s one of the places that separates him with Reddick; the latter was more projection from one spot to the other, while the former has already shown he can do both.

The Cardinals have placed a much-needed emphasis on fixing their front seven this offseason and have nailed their moves for the interior of the defensive line. The next step is Improving their outside pass rush. Walker could be a valuable asset there.

What intrigues me the most about Walker, however, is that he is already used to being a standup defender and will allow Arizona to move him all across the alignment. He can rush standing up, but we’ve also seen promise for him developing as a pass rusher with a hand in the dirt.

The current additions to the Cardinals pass rush, Josh Sweat, Baron Browning, and BJ Ojulari, (returning from injury) stacks the defense for true edge rushers. Adding Walker will boost that group, obviously, but he will allow the team to place him closer to a MIKE linebacker role and rush from the middle.

Given his pass rushing progress, this gives the Cardinals a distinct advantage for rushing the passer and blitz packages.

Combining those altogether gives the image of a near perfect prospect for Arizona.

Something else interesting with Walker is the fact that you could justify selecting him anywhere in the draft. I’ve seen Walker projected to be a top 10 pick on more than one occasion, but Arizona can still give the OK to trade up for him. Staying firm at 16 would be his best value and the most ideal situation.

However, even a slight trade down could still see him slide to them depending on team priorities ahead of them.

In other words, you could take Walker fifth overall or 25th overall and be completely satisfied with where you got him. You can’t say that about almost anybody on any given year in, any given draft, no matter how deep or thin it is.

It’s the fit. It’s the potential. It’s the value. It’s perfect.

Sign me up for this selection every day of the week and twice on Sundays.