Versatile rising junior Jalon Walker eyes 'expanded' role for Georgia football in 2024

Jalon Walker closed out his sophomore Georgia football season with a flourish.

He rang up two sacks and five quarterback pressures in the SEC championship game against Alabama and then tied his career-high with four tackles against Florida State in the Orange Bowl rout.

What’s next for a player listed as an inside linebacker who showed he’s a playmaker on the edge during a season in which he led the Bulldogs with 5 sacks?

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“I feel like my role will be the same, but I feel like it will expand as well,” Walker said before the Orange Bowl. “Going into next year, we have a lot of ideas going what we will do expanding my game, expanding the worth of my game as well. Just seeing that aspect, it’s exciting for me getting ready for next season.”

Walker averaged 17 snaps per game this season, but tied for his second most of the season with 27 against Florida State.

“I think he’s just a unique individual and we’re going to find ways to use him more moving forward,” defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann said.

Walker lined up 62 percent of the time this season as an edge rusher on the line, with 35 percent at inside linebacker and 3 percent in the slot and led the team in quarterback hurries with 19, according to Pro Football Focus.

He played equally on the edge and at inside backer against Florida State.

Lining up inside, he helped force Florida State quarterback Brock Glenn to the middle where he was tackled on one play. In one series he lined up on the edge on first down and at inside linebacker on third down.

Schumann was told that the 6-foot-2, 245-pound Walker considers himself an HLB—hybrid linebacker.

“He likes that term,” Schumann said.

Georgia has trained inside linebackers to man the middle on early downs and then moved them out to the edge in rush packages.

“Maybe they weren’t always the first guy in the depth chart because somebody else was ahead of them in that role,” Schumann said. “But what he’s done is he’s taken on some roles in packages that maybe hasn’t shown itself as much in the game where he goes out on the edge as well. That’s really challenging because when you have to be able to defend run and pass at both positions and all the different blocks that can show up for you and the scenarios in coverage variables there, that requires a lot of effort and focus both on the field and off the field.”

Walker was the nation’s No. 4 ranked linebacker in the 2022 class by the 247Sports Composite out of Salisbury, N.C.

“He decided to take on the challenge and play more off the ball in college because he knew it’d be more beneficial to him in the long run because, the more you can do, the more value you add to your career,” Schumann said. “He’s helped us a ton on third down. He’s going to help us more on first and second down moving forward. I’m excited about where he’s going.”

Walker has had to learn about seeing things properly as an off-ball linebacker in keying the run and then navigating blocks, Schumann said.

He finished with 20 tackles this season after making nine tackles as a freshman.

“Jalon goes about his business the right way,” Schumann said. “He works really hard. He’s a unique individual because he’s able to play both inside and out. He helped us a lot on third down this year. We also had packages where he played off the ball on first and second down. He’s just grown leaps and bounds."

Georgia returns an experienced starter at inside linebacker in senior Smael Mondon and already counted on rising sophomores CJ Allen and Raylen Wilson plenty in their first college seasons. The Bulldogs signed five-star Justin Williams and four-stars Chris Cole and Kristopher Jones at the position.

Georgia looks like it will use defensive end Mykel Williams more as an edge rusher in 2024 and Samuel M’Pemba and Damon Wilson will have a chance to earn more playing time at the position with Chaz Chambliss.

Walker brings an intriguing skill-set.

“He's explosive, twitchy, can bend, has really good pass rush ability,” coach Kirby Smart said after the Florida win when Walker had a sack and forced fumble. “But he also has the luxury of playing inside backer where he can stack off the ball and do things to help our defense be multiple. But you're not going to find a higher quality kid in any organization than Jalon. He is unbelievable in what he stands for and what he represents and how he works.”

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: How LB Jalon Walker could have expanded role for Georgia football