Jaguars start draft with Walker

The Jaguars chose EDGE Travon Walker with the 1st pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. Walker posted limited production in college, averaging just 0.33 sacks and 0.45 tackles for loss per game across 29 contests at Georgia. He does play the run well, but Jacksonville is clearly buying on the athleticism. Walker delivered a phenomenal 4.51-second 40-yard dash at 272 pounds, a 98th-percentile speed score for the position. We’ll see whether he can turn that promise into NFL production, but we’re a little wary about overpaying for him in dynasty rookie drafts.

Jaguars DC Mike Caldwell says #1 overall pick Travon Walker will play OLB in the team's new defense, according to John Reid of the Florida Times-Union. "I think his best position is outside linebacker because of his length, his athletic ability going against tackles," Caldwell said. "That is a premium position in this defense. He can play other positions, but his home for us is outside linebacker, where we see him being a force." The knee-jerk response might be to question why Jacksonville would play the 275-pounder at LB rather than DE. But in highlighting Walker's matchup with OTs, Caldwell signals that this will be more of an EDGE position than a traditional off-ball LB. We'll see how it plays out, of course, but we'd bet on Walker looking more like Von Miller did for Denver early in his career or Micah Parsons for last year's Cowboys -- in terms of how he's deployed. That said, we remain hesitant to count on Walker for big numbers. Playing LB will also limit his fantasy value on sites that still rely on traditional LB/DE splits with their position designations.