NFL Draft: What Georgia's Jalon Walker Would Bring to Jaguars

Difference-makers are critical to the success of an NFL franchise and the Jacksonville Jaguars have quite a few of them on both sides of the ball. On a roster that looks to have a major bounce-back from a 4-13, Jacksonville is looking to add more of them ahead of the 2025 season.

One intriguing possibility in this year's NFL Draft for the Jaguars is Georgia linebacker Jalon Walker, who was recently taken by the franchise in NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah's latest mock draft.

It came with mixed reactions as the team has looked to be on track to take a defensive lineman or offensive lineman early in the draft, such as Michigan's Mason Graham or LSU's Will Campbell.

Walker is a unique talent who was a weapon for the Bulldogs' defense over the last couple of seasons. He is a former 4-star recruit out of Salisbury, North Carolina, who became one of the anchors of Georgia's defense since 2023.

His career year came this past season with 60 tackles and six and a half sacks, becoming a third-team All-American, second-team All-SEC, and won the Butkus Award for the best linebacker in the country.

Before we dive into the conversation about Walker's fit with the team, let's take a look at what he may bring to the table at the next level.

Strengths

With Walker, he must be looked at through two lenses: linebacker and edge rusher. Starting with the former, he possesses quality size for the position at 6-foot-1, 243 pounds. Throughout any game you watch of him, Walker showcases his versatility with stand-up rush ability from the 7-technique, mugging the A-gap, quarterback spy, WILL and SAM linebacker.

At linebacker, Walker offers quality burst and sideline-to-sideline range that allows him to get to the ball carrier's track quickly. This is a powerful tackler with heavy hands and knockback ability to play downhill and create penetration in the run game, stopping ball carriers dead in their tracks.

He can also take on blockers well with great pop at the point of attack, displaying enough length to create extension at the point, anchor, and deconstruct blocks.

As an edge rusher, Walker offers an explosive first step that allows him to win off the edge with pure speed, stressing opposing blockers in their pass sets. He has outstanding bend and body control to work under the shoulder of tackles.

Walker also has great rush discipline in his lanes and shows terrific football intelligence. His power and explosiveness allow him to take on edge blockers and set the edge while being the force defender. In the last two seasons, Walker has flashed impressive pass rush variety with dip-rip, clubs, hand swipes, speed-to-power and a nasty ghost move.

Walker's overall display of explosiveness, linear athleticism, power, and balance allowed him to be an incredible disruptive player on the first and second levels as both rusher and stack defender.

Weaknesses

As a linebacker, Walker does not have enough fluidity to be a consistent deep zone dropper in the middle of the field and high hole. He is not reliable as an overall coverage defender, especially in man responsibilities, limiting him to a stack role if he plays at the second level full-time.

Against the run, Walker has displayed some inexperience as a run defender, occasionally being late to read and key plays on the ground.

At times in his rushes, Walker has shown a tendency to take on blockers in full instead of establishing a half-man relationship and forcing blockers to mirror. This has led to Walker's chest being exposed to grips and stalling his rushes.

He also doesn't possess the elite traits as a pass rusher and his size is more applicable to that of a linebacker, which may cause some potential hesitancy to teams that may view him as a pure edge rusher.

How Walker could fit with the Jacksonville Jaguars

This is a question many teams will be asking themselves with Walker. He is a unique player with how disruptive and chaotic he can be as a player. He shows some sort of value as both a linebacker and edge rusher but the issue here with Jacksonville or any team in the first 10 to 15 selections is how he is utilized.

Walker seems to fit more as a pure edge rusher than a linebacker, which may increase his value as a prospect and where he may land in the draft order. Others view him in the Kyle Van Noy/Frankie Luvu where he is more of an off ball defender that can be moved around and come off the edge in odd or under fronts.

In Jacksonville, the team does lack depth at edge rusher and linebacker, and competition should be expected at the second level after the unit had some legitimate struggles during the season.

Walker would give defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile some tools for an effective NASCAR package. He would give the defense a true difference maker against the run and as a pass rusher on later downs.

While it may depend on the team he is drafted by, Walker projects as a stack linebacker in the SAM role on early downs while using his linear athleticism and rush abilities to create terror as an edge rusher.

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