FLOWERY BRANCH — Jalon Walker flew around the field in Austin, bending with such ease and fluidity as an elastic band. His Bulldogs overwhelmed Texas in late October. This was his magnum opus.
Walker tormented offensive tackle Kelvin Banks, who became a top-10 NFL draft pick. He tortured top quarterback Quinn Ewers to the point the player was benched. Walker showed staggering closing speed in chasing down Arch Manning, Ewers’ replacement.
The Bulldogs, appearing mortal, were supposed to succumb to mighty Texas. Instead, Walker spearheaded a season-defining victory that likewise served as a testament to coach Kirby Smart’s program.
Walker, whom Georgia deployed as an inside linebacker and edge rusher, provided proof of concept for the latter that evening. He had eight tackles, three sacks and four quarterback hits. He dazzled while facing the country’s premier offensive line. He looked ferocious, unquestionably the best player in a game stacked with professionals.
“I felt like there’s a lot more I could’ve done, contributed to, that I felt like I slipped on,” Walker humbly said after the game.
That’s the attitude that made him a coach’s favorite. Smart routinely raved about Walker as a representative of his program. His impact went beyond statistics and even leadership; he was the tone-setter and invaluable communicator on a defense built on heralded recruits. Some might have noticed in the same Texas game, Walker walked over and enthusiastically told cornerback Julian Humphrey to stop celebrating in the end zone.
Despite such profound on-field ability, and despite earning unanimous praise for his character and intangibles, Walker slipped out of the top 14 picks and into the Falcons’ waiting wings.
“If you met the kid in person, you fall in love with him,” Falcons coach Raheem Morris said. “The character, the human, what he meant to that Georgia football team.”
General manager Terry Fontenot: “We picked a hell of a football player and a hell of a person.”
Lord knows, the Falcons have needed a take-over-the-game pass rusher for ages. Save a one-year-wonder performance from Vic Beasley, fans must invoke the name “John Abraham” when recalling a fearsome Falcons edge rush. Abraham last played for the Falcons in 2012; those born then are teenagers now.
Enter Walker, the latest bet to end this woeful stretch. He offers the upside of a bona fide No. 1 edge rusher who could shift an organization’s culture. Defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich will utilize Walker in a multifaceted role, the player said, but make no mistake: His best trait is his explosion off the edge. The Falcons need him attacking quarterbacks.
“I’m here to be that piece,” Walker said during his introductory news conference. “If they want me there, I’ll be there. If they want me here, I’ll be here. I’m just excited for the game plan to see what we’re going to work with.”
Morris added: “He’s very self-aware. He’ll kind of tell you what he thinks he is, and he’s 30% off the edge, 30% blitz into a gap. He can do some different things in the back end. He can drop. He can do all kinds of different things, so he’s definitely a threat. He definitely provides a threat for us that will allow us to utilize him in the most captivating ways. We’ve got a lot of coaches up there that are just gunning to use him and gunning to find different ways to get it done. I just can’t say enough good things about him. “
There was speculation Walker could go as high as No. 7 (Jets) or No. 8 (Panthers). While it wasn’t deemed blasphemous that he fell into the teens, he easily could’ve been taken before the Falcons’ choice. Circumstances fell in the Falcons’ favor — a rarity for a franchise that hasn’t made the playoffs since 2017.
NFL media’s Daniel Jeremiah ranked Walker the No. 5 overall player in the class. He was also deemed one of the cleanest and easiest off-field evaluations. On top of that, he proved himself in the SEC and was developed by a program that’s become 2010s Alabama lite.
Yet he was the fifth defender selected (third edge rusher). This was a muddled class in which teams were simply going to pick their flavor. There wasn’t a large separation outside the top few individuals.
Mykel Williams, Walker’s teammate, went ahead of him because of physical tools (No. 11). Walker was the far more consistent player at Georgia. But the NFL is drafting for what a player can become in the future. And San Francisco felt Williams was a better projection than Walker.
That’s part of why Walker was available. He’s 6-foot-1, 243 pounds, making him an undersized edge rusher. He’ll get overwhelmed by size at times. That’s inevitable. There have been plenty of his types to succeed, though, and it’s easy to bet on the makeup. Recently, players like Haasan Reddick, Shaq Barrett and Nolan Smith have excelled as “undersized” outside linebackers.
The Falcons traded back into the first rounder to add Tennessee’s James Pearce Jr., who will become Walker’s running mate as a fellow North Carolina native. “I told him we can (relate with) North Carolina and put the Georgia-Tennessee stuff behind us,” Pearce said Friday, chuckling.
But there will be great pressure on Walker in not only becoming the Falcons’ pass-rush extraordinaire, but also in continuing the tremendous run of Georgia defenders in the NFL. The Eagles, after all, just won the Super Bowl with myriad Bulldogs on their defense.
And now, finally, the Falcons have invested a first-round pick in a Bulldog of their own. During their 2021 World Series run, the Braves rallied behind a “Kill The Narrative” slogan, a nod to overcoming past Atlanta sports misery. Maybe the Falcons should now claim that phrase after taking a Georgia product following years of fan outcry.
“If it was (a narrative), it was,” Walker said. “I’m here now and it’s a great blessing.”
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