Doug Pederson Lays Out His Expectations for Travon Walker and Devin Lloyd in 2023
First round draft picks in the NFL carry a great deal of weight because of the expectation of immediate results, but like any young athlete there will always be a learning curve.
This much is true for Jaguars edge rusher Travon Walker and linebacker Devin Lloyd, who’s rookie campaigns were far from perfect but showcased the promise that made them first round selections.
As the No. 1 overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, Walker finished his rookie campaign with 3.5 sacks, 49 total tackles, one interception, and a forced fumble in 15 games played.
While the sack totals were low for an edge rusher drafted with such a premium pick, Walker was disruptive off the edge, generating 10 quarterback hits and recording five tackles for loss, growing more and more comfortable over the second half of the season and the playoffs.
This progress is what excites Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson and the coaching staff. Speaking to the media at the NFL Owners Meeting, Pederson offered rave reviews for Walker while making clear that studying the game of football the right way is a stepping stone toward improvement.
“You know, I love Travon, his compete,” Pederson said. “I loved his length, his athleticism, his strength, love the way he practices the preparation. I think one of the things that I appreciated with Travon is how he kind of improved because, you know, some of these young guys don't know how to study the game as well and being able to show him how to study what to look for who to study, study great edge rushers in our game, and try to take some takeaways from that.
"And again, there's so much room for improvement with him just like Trevor, we can only go up right? And he can be a really dominant impact player for us. Plus he’ll have an off-season to rest. Last year he was blown and going with 30 visits, combine, all that stuff. And now he’s had a chance to recover, he’ll get back in the weight room and start working on his craft.”
Lloyd’s rookie season experienced all kinds of dips and curves. After starting the 2022 season strong with six passes defended and two interceptions in his first three games, the 24 year-old hit a rookie wall, struggling in coverage and eventually paving the way for a timeshare with fellow rookie linebacker Chad Muma.
Overall for the season, Lloyd recorded 115 tackles, three interceptions, two fumble recoveries, and eight passes defended.
Despite the inconsistencies, the ceiling is high for Lloyd entering his sophomore campaign. Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson expressed a high level of confidence in Lloyd and preached learning and studying in his continued development.
“It’s high, it’s high, a lot of confidence,” Pederson said. “And he really improved throughout the course of the year for us, took a step in the right direction. I think a couple of games in there where we kept him on the sideline a little bit, you know, as the backup guy really made an impact for him.
"And he’s another one of those guys just learning how to prepare, learning how to study, how to you know, to understand the game plan, his role within the game plan, are all things that he’s going to benefit from this off-season.”
