Travon Walker, Jaguars not concerned with 'projection over production' talk as No. 1 pick

Getting picked in the NFL Draft is special. Getting picked No. 1 overall is even more special. But with that comes pressure and responsibility to an organization, not only on the field but off of it. That’s what Georgia defensive lineman Travon Walker has on his plate now after being selected as the top pick in the 2022 NFL Draft by the Jacksonville Jaguars.

“I’m definitely prepared for it. Being the No. 1 overall pick, there’s definitely a lot of expectations that come with that,” Walker said on Thursday night while meeting with media after the pick. “I’m one that it’s just a game of football to me. I’m just going to continue doing what I’ve been doing, giving my all to the game of football because that’s something that I love to do and not make it any more pressure than it should be.”

Walker certainly falls into the category of a player with high expectations. Throughout the draft process he was thought to be a “projection over production” pick. After only having 9.5 sacks and 13.0 tackles for loss in his entire three-year career but testing off the charts for a player of his size (6-foot-5, 275 pounds) at the NFL Combine, the thought is that he’s going to continue to develop as a player and that his best football is still ahead of him. However, Walker isn’t concerned with what others have to say.

“Me, I’m not the type of person to entertain things like that,” Walker said. “Everybody is entitled to their own opinions so I can’t be mad at them for having their own opinions.”

“I’m the type of person to be where my feet are and control what I can control,” he continued. “In the moment, it was the Combine for me. I just attacked the task ahead, did what I was supposed to do and it worked out how it should. Everybody really started realizing how good of a player I can be and how good of a player I was in college.”

Like Walker said, NFL teams certainly saw what Walker could be capable of at the next level, and the Jaguars jumped at the chance to take him first overall.

“There’s a lot to like in terms of his skillset,” Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke said. “A very versatile player, he played all the way up and down the line of scrimmage all the way from a 0 technique to a 7 technique. He played in a two point (stance) off the edge which he’s going to be used a lot in our scheme. That versatility, the ability to stop the run, rush the passer, there’s a lot of work to do, but there’s a lot of talent to work with.”

“You can’t make excuses for any player, but what we can do is look at the film. What’s production? There’s a lot of things that go into production,” he added. “It’s not at the end of the day just how many sacks they have or how many pressures they have. There’s a run element to the game too. So there’s a lot of ways to look at production. We feel very comfortable about his production, run and pass, with a lot of upside. But he’s got to come in, like all these young guys do, and earn it.”

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