Jalon Walker putting emphasis on versatility in Georgia defense

ATHENS, Ga. — Versatility is important to sophomore linebacker Jalon Walker. Having played outside linebacker in high school before starting his college career on the inside, Walker knows it’s his key to consistently getting on the field for Georgia.

“I think versatility is the new age of the game. Personally, I love being able to play both sides of the ball,” Walker said about his cross training at inside and outside linebacker. “Being able to be inside ‘backer gave me the opportunity to play on first and second downs, and then when it comes to the outside ‘backer role, being able to play on third down as well is great. Rushing the passer is a strong suit of my game, and I’ve taken that opportunity as another chance to thrive on the field.”

Walker, the nation’s No. 4 linebacker in the Class of 2022, got to Georgia in the spring before his freshman season and started the year at inside linebacker. As the season went along though and the Bulldogs got banged up at outside linebacker, Walker made the switch to working with the outside guys more often. He played in all 15 games, totaling nine tackles including two for loss. Neither of his season highlights – either a blocked punt that rolled out of the end zone against Kent State or a sack in the National Championship Game victory over TCU – came from the traditional inside linebacker position he was listed as on the roster.

While he’s back with the Glenn Schumann and the inside linebacker primarily according to Kirby Smart, Schumann – who also serves as Georgia’s defensive coordinator – says it’s more common than many realize to have a guy that does a bit of both with developing that versatility being a goal for the Bulldogs.

“You do not start them in a small box, especially not a guy going into Year 2. We want to challenge him to be as versatile as possible, to go back and forth between being an edge rusher in our third-down packages and playing inside linebacker on first and second down. That’s probably — more than you guys realize — we’ve done that with a lot of guys over the years. Maybe they didn’t end up being in that role on game day. He was able to do that for us last year,” Schumann said.

“We want to find out how much each guy in the defense can do right now, and so we’re challenging them day to day. You have to play inside linebacker on first and second down and even challenging them to do it some on third down because there’s other guys that are good edge rushers as well and figuring out who the best 11 are.”

Walker was sidelined for Georgia’s set of 15 practices in the spring as he recovered from surgery to repair a torn labrum. He said he took that time to grow the mental side of his game, something that Kirby Smart would agree with, noting this spring that the injured Walker eager to get on the field would stand behind the play and simulate his responsibilities since he wasn’t able to actually participate in the drills.

“I feel like I’ve made the most strides going through the mental game,” Walker said. “I had the opportunity last year to get the experience of playing. Not many freshman get that opportunity, so once I had that opportunity, I took advantage of it. But being out during the spring, I improved my mental aspect of the game even more and now being in fall camp, it puts a lot of things in better perspective for myself.”

“I think I took that freshman campaign for myself to get comfortable. I started at inside ‘backer for the first half of the season and that spring as well. To me, it’s just getting familiar with the inside ‘backer game,” he continued. “For spring, that mental aspect of the game was put on me. It helps a lot to know what you’re doing. My freshman year I didn’t quite know what was going on, but now being developed during the spring, that mental aspect of the game I feel like has been very beneficial for myself.”

Spending that time away from the game physically and focused on it mentally only grew his love for football Walker said. While it’d be easy to get down about being sidelined, Walker, who was selected as an All-SEC third-teamer by the media in the preseason, took it upon himself to get better – something that could pay off for him in 2023 with Georgia’s leading tackler of 2022, Smael Mondon, out with injury for the time being and a pair of transfers out, Trezmen Marshall (Alabama) and Rian Davis (UCF), that played more snaps than him last season.

“Personally, that spring opportunity of me being out and having that labrum surgery for myself, I took it like not many people would take it. Guys would take it as an ‘Oh, I’m going to fall off the game.’ I feel like I gravitated more towards the game,” Walker said. “On the mental aspect of this defense, learning why we do this, why we do that. Over that time of recovering, I feel great. I feel like I have a brand new shoulder. I feel like I’ll be 100 percent for a good time.”

“Having that opportunity to get on the field for myself, I take every day not with a grain of salt,” he added. “I take every day with pride. I take every day with, you don’t know when your last snap is, and I take every day with a hard work and positive attitude of, when I have that opportunity, I need to seize and attack it.”