Is he really the ‘Dawg’ the Panthers are looking for?

A Jalon Walker skeptic takes another look to see what all the hype is about.

The buzz on social media connecting the Carolina Panthers to Georgia’s Jalon Walker has reached a new peak after interviews from the “Up and Adams” show have been clipped and shared repeatedly across every platform imaginable.

I’ll be honest, to this point I’ve not been a huge fan of Walker’s. Which is why I figure it will be a fruitful exercise to dive into his profile to see if I’ve written him off sooner than I should have. After all, with so many prominent and well respected analyst like Dane Brugler, Daniel Jeremiah and Field Yates absolutely in love with the player, it can’t hurt to take another, more intense look.

Before going into this second look, this is how I viewed Walker’s profile in relation to being the Panthers selection at 8th overall:

Walker is a hybrid linebacker/edge rusher, signified by his 195 pass rush snaps during the 2024 season (including playoffs), the highest of any linebacker in PFF’s system. The under-developed instincts and coverage ability make it hard to value him as a top 10 pick as an off-ball linebacker. While explosive as an edge rusher, his measurables are a major concern, especially when considering that the Panthers have sought out players with ideal measurables in all of their recent transactions at the position. While there is value in hybrid players like Frankie Luvu or Andrew Van Ginkel, that role is usually the fallback plan for a player when they’ve been unsuccessful in other roles and not one prioritized with a top 10 selection.

So, in order for me to view Walker as worthy of the 8th overall selection, I want to project him spending most of his time in the NFL as an edge defender who can rush the passer. I want Walker to have a true home position in the NFL where he can spend most of his time developing and then can branch out from there. Frankly, I don’t yet trust the creativity of defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero to use Walker as position-less player, and the Panthers desperate need of pass rush production only makes me feel stronger about this opinion.

Measurables

The number one issue with Walker’s projection at edge defender is his size. At the NFL Combine, Walker measured in at the combine at 6’1, 243 lbs with 32 inch arms and 10.25 inch hands. Among edges, those numbers would be in the 2nd, 6th, 5th and 79th percentile – according to Trevor Sikkema of Pro Football Focus.

However, the combine measurements for a number of 2025 prospects have been under heavy scrutiny this year with the Pro Day measurements being considered the more accurate of the two this draft cycle. At Georgia’s exhibition, Walker’s arm length came in at a more respectable 32.625 inches (taken from Brugler’s draft guide “The Beast”), up to the 17th percentile at edge according to Mockdraftable.com.

To me, the argument for Walker’s projection to edge relies heavily on previous examples of players with similar frames succeeding at edge. I’ve taken a look at frequent player comparison’s evaluators have made for Walker and put all of their measurements in a table to see them side-by-side.

While Walker is the shortest of the bunch, the rest of his measurements don’t stand out in any meaningful way – good or bad. Given the success of the other four players in this sample I can say I’m much more comfortable with Walker’s frame than I was before, with one huge caveat: Walker also has to be above a 90th percentile athlete.

Unfortunately, due to a thigh injury Walker has yet to run any drills at either the combine or the Georgia’s Pro Day. Walker does have a private workout that NFL teams can attend scheduled for April 17th. Performing well at that workout, will be very beneficial to Walker’s public perception and ease some concerns of many draft evaluators, including yours truly.

Production

For a player lauded as potentially the second best pass rush prospect in a deep edge class, it seems like you’d expect him to have more than just 6.5 sacks last season. Well, Walker’s sack total was the most on Georgia last year and he accomplished this with only 195 pass rush opportunities. Most of the top pass rushers in this draft class had at least 150 more pass rush attempts than Walker.

(Note: For consistency only PFF stats were used in the above table. PFF does not count half-sacks, which is why Walker is shown with 7 sacks instead of 6.5)

So, for what it is worth on a per snap basis, Walker has been comparably productive to the best pass rushers in this class. In particular, Walker’s standing amongst his peers in PFF’s signature Pass Rush Productivity (PRP) metric impresses me. According to PFF, the PRP metric gives added weight to sacks and QB hits because of their added value. In this metric, Jalon Walker is on par with the best pass rushers in this draft class. Of the prospects with at least 150 pass rush snaps in this draft class, Walker’s PRP of 11.8 is tied with Abdul Carter for 5th highest.

Conclusion

Doing this dive into Walker’s profile has done a lot to assuage some of my concerns with him as a prospect. While I only dove into the pass rushing element of his game, that’s likely the single most important aspect in evaluating him as a potential top 10 overall selection. I still have some concerns about his profile as a strict linebacker, but I’m leaving this exercise far more comfortable with drafting Walker than I was when I started it.

Given the other pass rush options with projected value in the top half of the first round, Walker may be the only one that is both available (Carter expected to be gone by pick 8) and without significant character red flags (see: James Pearce and Mike Green).