Georgia LB Jalon Walker is towing a dangerous line ahead of the 2025 NFL Draft officially kicking off

When you talk about the 2025 NFL Draft class, there may not be a more likeable player than Georgia defender Jalon Walker. Anyone who speaks about Walker from the Bulldog program has nothing but positive things to say. He has been revered for his character, work ethic, and leadership. It is hard not to root […]

Ryan Roberts — National College Football Writer

Apr 10, 2025 3:55 PM EDT

When you talk about the 2025 NFL Draft class, there may not be a more likeable player than Georgia defender Jalon Walker. Anyone who speaks about Walker from the Bulldog program has nothing but positive things to say. He has been revered for his character, work ethic, and leadership. It is hard not to root for a player like that.

Walker is also a talented football player who was used in many different ways by Georgia over the last couple of seasons. Having played both linebacker and on the edge, Walker was able to record 60 total tackles, 11 tackles for loss, and 6.5 sacks. Making plays from depth, in space, screaming off of the edge, and as an interior blitzer, there isn't a defender in this class that was able to do more than Walker. 

While that college versatility is awesome to watch, transitioning to the NFL level is a little bit of a different animal. In the scouting world, there is a fine line between being versatile and being a tweener. The former is very positive, complimenting a player for their ability to do several things. The latter is far from a compliment, and typically players who fall into the "tweener" bucket have a difficult time finding sustained success. 

For a prospective NFL team, you want to try and find a role for Walker early. If he is able to major in a specific role, then that is where you potentially expand his role on the defense. The question that must be asked is which spot does he project to best?

Walker's best film comes as a pass rusher, where Walker was able to showcase his combination of explosiveness, bend, and closing speed. Even there, it isn't a perfect fit by any means. From a size perspective, Walker is a much cleaner fit as a linebacker on the next level. He is the definition of a size outlier coming off of the edge.

At linebacker, Walker brings an intriguing baseline but his instincts are a little bit up and down. The issue is that position is so predicated on fitting consistently, and instincts. In a lot of ways, a lack of reps has hurt Walker's development there. Perhaps a team could tap into that upside while letting him develop, but as we know, some organizations are very impatient. 

A player that Walker could potentially emulate is All-Pro pass rusher Haason Reddick. During his time with the Arizona Cardinals, Carolina Panthers, and Philadelphia Eagles, Reddick was able to develop into one of the top pass rushers in the NFL despite being very small. It took a creative mind to unlock that upside with Reddick, and the same may be true with Walker.

Some will fight back against the narrative, but Walker is an outlier by every definition of the word. That doesn't, however, mean that he can't be successful. That simply means that his potential outcomes may be more reliant on the situation he is drafted into than some others. It is possible that he develops into a perennial Pro Bowler, or has a tough time making a consistent impact. Both extremes are on the table. 

There is a very strong chance that a team is going to end up selecting Walker inside of the top ten selections in a couple of weeks, and there is some risk involved. Let's hope that a creative defensive mind will get ahold of him, or else the towing of that line between tweener and versatility could be tested early on. 

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