Travon Walker, the No. 1 overall pick of the 2022 draft, had a quiet rookie season for the Jaguars with just 3.5 sacks and 10 quarterback hits in 15 games.
He showed more promise in 2023, registering 10.0 sacks, 10 tackles for loss, and 19 quarterback hits while playing 78 percent of the team’s defensive snaps. In a Tuesday interview with NFL Network, Walker said he was able to “go play freely” and not think as much on the field.
As he heads into Year 3, Walker wants to step up even more.
“It’s just one of those feelings, that I have guys counting on me,” Walker said. “Throughout my time of playing football, from the collegiate level to now, I’ve had a lot of guys looking up to me, to go out there and handle my business, and they looked at me in a leadership role just because they know the type of person that I am and the type of player that I am.
“So obviously this offseason I’ve been trying to get better, and hopefully just continuously elevate to be one of the best players in the league one day.”
With a new defensive coordinator in Ryan Nielsen, Walker said he feels like the unit is definitely “headed in a great direction.”
“I just feel like [Nielsen’s system] lets a lot of the guys up front and within the box just play a lot more free, not a lot of thinking,” Walker said. “[Nielsen has] done a great job so far coming in, being one of those coaches that’s all in, and he wants his players to get better. So I feel like the defense this year, we should take a major step from where we were last year.”
