Travon Walker impresses in NFL debut after being selected No. 1 overall out of Georgia

Travon Walker made his NFL debut last night and, in moments, more than looked the part. The Jaguars kicked off the NFL exhibition season last night against the Las Vegas Raiders where Walker totaled a sack of Jarrett Stidham in the first quarter. It may not have been a busy night for he and his team in the box score, but the No. 1 pick showed flashes of why he was taken so high in the 2022 NFL Draft.

“Man, I thought he did some really good things. There was some early, good, quick pass rushes in there. He was very disruptive. Showed his length, his athleticism, his power. He’s going to be fun to watch, I think, all season,” said Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson following Walker’s debut. “I think there’s timing issues…It’s just gonna come from just watching it and learning from it. You never try to slow down his athleticism (or) power that way. But he’ll learn from it and be better.”

This was Walker’s first live football since becoming a national champion in January. He finished his Bulldog career with 9.5 sacks, 61 tackles, and an interception, forced fumble and fumble recovery a piece. He led the way for Georgia as the first of 15 Bulldogs, eight on their defense alone, to be selected in April.

“I hadn’t hit an opponent in a while. It was definitely an exciting feeling. It was my first one, but plenty more to come…There’s always room for improvement, but (I’m) just ready to get back to work,” said Walker to Steve Wyche of the NFL Network. “Work on some mistakes that I made and just grow from there. Now I got a feel of it and see how it’s really gonna be, so now I just want to continue to play fast and continue to make plays to help my team.”

The loss to the Raiders was reminiscent of the team’s past but Travon Walker will be one of the franchise’s cornerstones for change in the future. Those are hefty expectations to place on the shoulders of a rookie. Even so, Walker says that, with his work, he is more than prepared to carry that load.

“I have to say just come into work and get one percent better every day. As long as we get one percent better every day, we can’t get no worse.”