Jalon Walker, Georgia pass rush improving with intentional effort

ATHENS, Ga. — Georgia’s Jalon Walker played some of his best football for the Bulldogs on Saturday in a 43-20 win over Florida. The sophomore linebacker finished second on the team in total pressures according to Pro Football Focus with three including a sack and two quarterback hurries.

Walker’s first-quarter takedown of Gator signal caller Graham Mertz forced a fumble and helped set the tone for how the rest of the day would go for Georgia. It’s something that head coach Kirby Smart says he has seen Walker emphasize over the last couple of weeks.

“Work ethic. I mean, he’s committed to it. He works his trade, his craft every day,” Smart said of Walker when asked about his development as a pass rusher. “You know, I thought Schumann did a great job pointing out he took every rep on a Friday walk-through to really work his pass-rush move in a walk-through — like, physically, mentally taking his steps, dropping, rushing, stripping the quarterback. And then I’ll be danged if he didn’t do the exact thing in the game. We could put that clip — those three clips he had of doing that back to back — and show the players that being intentional in walk-through and being locked in in a walk-through can have incredible value.”

“I feel like getting attention to detail is just very valuable,” Walker said of his intentional efforts. “Your little walk-through reps, you emulate those reps and those can come through a game rep. I’d been practicing that move all week, I practiced different moves all week long. You never know when it’s going to hit. That certain moment, it was very successful.”

Walker’s not the only one improving though. While his forced fumble was recovered by a Florida offensive lineman, the Bulldogs made the most of their next opportunity and came up with their first fumble recovery of the season thanks to a strip sack from Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins in his first game back from injury.

According to Smart, Ingram-Dawkins isn’t completely healthy and definitely isn’t in tip-top shape, but his return provided a spark for those around him.

“We felt like it was time for him to come back. He said, coach, this foot’s either going to give or it’s not. I can’t keep sitting. I’ve gotta go play. He felt really good this week,” Smart said of Ingram-Dawkins after the game. “… He was an added boost for us, just morale-wise, to get a guy back that we think could’ve had one of the best years, and he hasn’t been able to. So I was really proud of him to get that sack, the first fumble of the season to recover.”

“Man, it was huge to get Tyrion back,” Georgia defensive lineman Mykel Williams added on Tuesday. “He came in with a great impact. He helped us a lot. He caused a turnover, which we got. I think it was the first time this year where we recovered a forced fumble. So it was a great impact whee we really needed it. We hope we can get the same from him going forward.”

All together, Georgia totaled 20 pressures of Mertz on Saturday with 12 quarterback hurries according to Pro Football Focus. Ingram-Dawkins (92.3) and Walker (91.8) graded out as the team’s top two pass rushers, and the Bulldogs will need more of that to come – not just this week but down the stretch facing the sixth-strongest remaining schedule featuring a trio of top-20 teams.

Ingram-Dawkins and Walker also can’t be the only two that Georgia can count on to provide pressure on the quarterback. Marvin Jones Jr. is playing better football all around. Damon Wilson and Mykel Williams shared a sack, a positive sign of things to come. All former five-stars, those three, among others, certainly can add to the presence Ingram-Dawkins and Walker had last Saturday.

Georgia, ranked No. 2 in the initial release of the College Football Playoff rankings on Tuesday, takes on Missouri, who came in at No. 12, with the top spot in the SEC East up for grabs and an inside track to the conference championship game going to the winner. Kickoff time from Sanford Stadium in Athens is set for 3:30 p.m. ET on CBS.