ATLANTA — The Battery Atlanta was part of history Thursday, and this time it had nothing to do with the Braves.
Travon Walker, a junior defensive end from Georgia, was the first player selected in the NFL draft. Walker, a 6-foot-5, 275-pound graduate of Upson-Lee High School in Thomaston, was chosen by the Jacksonville Jaguars, who had the first pick for a second consecutive year.
“Absolutely, he’s deserving,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said from Las Vegas (the site of the draft) before the draft started Thursday. “I’ve seen more things than anybody else has in practice. … This guy is an elite athlete. We’ve known it all along, I’m just glad everybody else is getting to see it.”
Walker received the news amid a large group of family and friends gathered at the Omni Hotel at The Battery Atlanta to watch first round of the draft Thursday night. Walker awaited his call in a separate room along with his parents, agents from Elite Loyalty Sports, high school coach and closest friends. Afterward, the group joined Walker’s many well-wishers in a terrace area of the hotel to celebrate into the night while the Braves played the Chicago Cubs nearby in Truist Park.
Walker becomes the fifth Georgia football player in history to become the No. 1 pick in an NFL draft. He joins running backs Frank Sinkwich (1943) and Charley Trippi (1945), receiver Harry Babcock (1953) and quarterback Matthew Stafford (2009). That ties Notre Dame, Oklahoma and USC for the most No. 1′s in NFL history.
The Jaguars picked quarterback Trevor Lawrence of Cartersville last year, giving the state of Georgia the past two No. 1 draft picks. But while Lawrence’s selection was long anticipated going into the 2021 draft, Walker was an extremely late riser up draft boards.
Even as late as last week, the Jaguars were expected to take either Michigan defensive end Aidan Hutchinson or one of at least two offensive tackles — North Carolina State’s Ikem Ekwonu or Alabama’s Evan Neal — to provide protection for Lawrence. Instead, Jacksonville went with Walker, who blew away scouts with an incredible performance at the NFL combine in Indianapolis in February and continued to impress teams with private workouts and interviews in the two months since.
Walker’s video from games this past season wasn’t too bad either. While some evaluators questioned Walker’s lack of overall production and playing time over the entirety of his three-year college career — he did not start until his junior year — he was a dominant at defensive end this past season on a defense that was considered among the greatest of the modern era.
Starting all 15 games, Walker collected 37 tackles, six sacks, 7.5 tackles for loss, 36 quarterback pressures and two pass-breakups. Two of his sacks came in during the College Football Playoff, including a touchdown-saving run-down tackle of a wide receiver in the national championship game.
After running a 4.51-second 40-yard dash and getting measured as having 36-inch arms, 10-¾-inch hands and an 84 1/4-inch wingspan at the combine, teams became increasingly infatuated with Walker’s professional prospects.
“I told his parents, ‘You’re son is one of one,” said Vince Taylor, Walker’s agent from Elite Loyalty Sports. “There’s nobody like him in college football with his combination of intangibles and height, weight, size and playing all over the line. … I told them, ‘our goal should be to be the No. 1 pick.’ That’s what my eyes told me, and my gut.”
Walker’s father, Stead Walker, is retired from the U.S. Marine Corps, and his mother, Lasonia, is a hospital receptionist. He also has a brother and two sisters.
According to last year’s salary distribution, Walker’s first NFL contract likely will be worth close to $40 million, with as much as $25 million coming in signing bonus, which is guaranteed.
