2024-08-25 01:20:02
Defensive end Travon Walker isn’t necessarily an unknown commodity. After all, he’s coming off a 10-sack season but it’s fair to say that the first overall pick in 2022 has yet to live up to his draft billing. Fortunately for the Jacksonville Jaguars, it looks like he’s ready to break out, and his performance against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 3 of the Preseason might be a sign of things to come.
Following the 31-0 win over the Falcons, Ben Cooper of Pro Football Focus named Travon Walker the player of the game, pointing out that the third-year defensive end logged one run stop, four total pressures, and a sack on 21snaps.
Walker’s performance didn’t go unnoticed, with Michael DiRocco of ESPN highlighting a couple of plays in which he brought the heat.
Travon Walker almost had sacks on back-to-back plays. Noticed that Devin Lloyd was around the QB on both plays, too.
— Michael DiRocco (@ESPNdirocco) August 23, 2024
Walker was one of several starters that got ample playing time. Bookend pass rusher Josh Hines-Allen also logged 21 defensive snaps while Devin Lloyd, Chad Muma, Andre Cisco, Ronald Darby, Tyson Campbell, and Antonio Johnson all got 27 each.
Heading into the game, head coach Doug Pederson said he wanted the starter the play two quarters against the Falcons. While Jacksonville pulled Trevor Lawrence and a few others early, Walker was one of several players who got extended playing time.
Pederson told the media before the bout that wanted to see clean execution and said in the aftermath that he was pleased with the team’s overall performance.
Walker, in particular, already looks in regular-season form. After playing standup linebacker the past two seasons, he’s back to lining up with his hand on the ground in defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen’s scheme. This makes sense when you take into account that the Thomaston, Georgia native is at his best when he’s in a three-point stance.
When the Jacksonville Jaguars drafted Travon Walker, they knew he wasn’t a finished product and wasn’t going to contribute right off the gate. After all, he had success lining up across the line of scrimmage at Georgia but he was rarely asked to get after the quarterback.
Walker spent his rookie campaign making the transition to playing in a two-point staff. When you take into account that he had to deal with the draft process and wasn’t able to fully get ready, it’s not a surprise that he was relatively quiet in his first NFL campaign, registering just 4.5 sacks.
Having gotten acclimated to the pros, Walker made strides in his sophomore season, racking up 10 sacks. With Ryan Nielsen now calling the shots, the former Bulldog is now projected to put it all together. This is a totally reasonable expectation when you consider that not only will he be playing in his more familiar three-point stance but the Jaguars have beefed up the interior defensive line.
While Walker and partner-in-crime Josh Hines-Allen wreaked havoc on the edge, the Jaguars struggled to control the line of scrimmage from the interior. To remedy that, they inked Arik Armstead in free agency and later added Jordan Jefferson and Maason Smith in the draft. On top of that, DaVon Hamilton is back at full strength
The bottom line is that Travon Walker’s play against the Falcons was a small sample of what’s next. The ingredients are there for him to take his game to the next level in 2024.
