Getty Travon Walker No. 44 of the Georgia Bulldogs.
The Atlanta Falcons defensive line finished the 2021 season ranked dead last in the NFL for sacks, thus a need for a game-changing edge rusher (or two) is on their offseason list.
And according to Bleacher Report’s Alex Ballentine, they could find what they need in Georgia’s Travon Walker.
Ballentine recently published a list of ideal landing spots for several combine stars and linked Walker to the Falcons at No. 8 overall.
He wrote:
The combine served as another reminder that Georgia’s front seven was among the best college football has ever seen. Nakobe Dean (scouting report), Jordan Davis, Devonte Wyatt (scouting report) and Travon Walker (scouting report) all had great weekends.
Walker might have helped his draft stock the most, though. He did not have elite production at Georgia but was electrifying in his testing and is worth re-evaluating based on the athleticism he showed in Indy.
The 6’5″ 272-pound pass-rusher posted the third-fastest 40 time for his position at 4.51. His 6.89 three-cone time was the fifth-fastest time regardless of position before the defensive backs tested.
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Walker’s Scouting Report
School: Georgia
Current Year: Junior
Height: 6’5″
Weight: 275 pounds
After cutting 15 pounds and finishing the 2021 season as the CFB National Champion, Walker took his draft stock to a whole new level. He started all 10 games for Georgia, playing both played both as an edge rusher and interior defensive lineman, where he tallied 28 tackles, 3.5 sacks, 5 tackles for loss, and 18 quarterback hurries.
According to his official scouting report from Pro Football Network, his explosiveness makes him quite dangerous against the run.
Walker is explosive off the snap. He has excellent lateral agility, allowing him to cut from outside to the interior in the blink of an eye. Watching him effortlessly jump from the B-gap to the A-gap in one seamless movement is a joy to behold. Furthermore, his lateral agility allows him to scrape across the line easily, making him dangerous against the run.
PFN also says that in addition to his speed, Walker’s arm length and strength “routinely” enable him to walk his blocker back into the opposing quarterback.
However, Walker does have some minor needs for improvement which include, clean tackling, point of attack and consistency, according to PFN.
Walker Is Considered a ‘Freak of Nature’
Georgia’s head coach, Kirby Smart, has been around the block and made it clear via bulldawgillustrated.com that Walker is truly one of a kind.
“He is a freak of nature when it comes to athletic ability for that size,” Kirby said. “I do not know how many years it will be before I coach a guy who is that big, that can run like that, and has really good stamina with great toughness and effort. I am really proud of what he is doing in terms of leadership for our team.”
Walker played a team captain role in 2021 making him a great candidate for the Falcons defense as general manager Terry Fontenot and head coach Arthur Smith value leadership in players.
Thanks to his athleticism combined with outstanding combine performance, Walker should go off the draft boards well before No. 20 with the Falcons set to pick at No. 8 overall.
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