Although he reached double-digit sacks and averaged nearly 3.5 quarterback pressures per game in his second NFL season, Pro Football Focus believes Travon Walker has plenty left to prove with the Jaguars in 2024.
The outlet named Walker as Jacksonville’s “X-factor” player entering the upcoming campaign in an assessment of every NFL team’s strengths, weaknesses and approach to the 2024 offseason.
PFF analysts Jim Wyman and Dalton Wasserman dinged Walker, the Jaguars’ No. 1 overall selection in the 2022 NFL draft, for what they deemed to be his lack of development as an edge rusher.
X-factor for 2024: EDGE Travon Walker
Travon Walker has underwhelmed since becoming the first pick of the 2022 NFL Draft. Walker has yet to earn a PFF grade above 60.0 for an entire season, and his 53.9 number in 2023 ranked 99th out of 112 qualifying edge defenders. Walker was considered a raw prospect coming out of Georgia, so this isn’t much of a shocker, but if he doesn’t develop and become a force opposite Josh Allen in Year 3, the Jaguars will struggle to get any pressure on the quarterback and his future with the franchise may be up in the air.
PFF’s analysis of Walker extended the analyst’s description of the Jaguars’ biggest weakness entering 2024, the team’s pass rush.
“Extending Josh Allen to a five-year, $150 million deal was crucial for the Jaguars because, aside from him, there is very little to fear on the Jaguars’ defensive line,” they wrote.
“While the team did sign veteran Arik Armstead, Jacksonville still lacks other players who can consistently get after the quarterback. Former first-overall pick Travon Walker hasn’t panned out through two seasons, and the only other edge defender on the roster to play at least 100 snaps last season was Chad Muma, a converted off-ball linebacker who may need to return to his previous role in 2024.”
Concerns regarding Jacksonville’s edge rusher depth have prevailed since last offseason, as the team lost productive backup Arden Key to Tennessee via free agency just over a year ago. 2023 backup edges, Dawuane Smoot and K’Lavon Chaisson, combined for only three sacks over 623 defensive snaps logged last season.
Both Smoot and Chaisson exited Jacksonville via free agency this offseason, replaced by free agent signee Trevis Gipson and seventh-round 2024 NFL draft selection Myles Cole. Gipson has recorded two sacks in his last 23 NFL games; Cole produced five sacks over six seasons in college.
With that in mind, a big season from Walker opposite Allen in 2024 certainly could pay dividends for the Jaguars as they push for a return to the postseason after missing the playoffs in 2023. And if either Allen or Walker are impacted by injuries this season, Jacksonville’s edge rush will likely suffer.
But it’s fair to wonder why PFF grades Walker’s performances poorly over his first two pro seasons.
Walker posted 3.5 sacks, five tackles for loss, 43 quarterback pressures (per PFF), one interception, one forced fumble and two defended passes over 15 appearances as a rookie in 2022, modest production for a top pick.
He made a big jump in 2023, though, tallying 10 sacks, 10 tackles for loss, 59 pressures and two pass breakups over 17 games, all starts.
Yet Walker’s PFF pass-rush grade in 2023 was lower than his 2022 mark, down to 58.1 (out of 100) from 58.6. His run-defense grade dropped, too, to 49.7 from 59.6. Overall, Walker earned a 53.9 defensive mark last season compared to his 58.0 grade as a rookie.
Reunited with Allen via Allen’s contract extension and alongside the newly-signed Armstead, a seasoned defensive tackle with 41.5 career sacks including the postseason, Walker, who won’t turn 24 until December, is surrounded by pass-rushing talent entering his third season with the Jaguars and should have ample opportunity to increase his production again.
Perhaps that will be enough to prove himself as Jacksonville’s 2024 “X-factor,” and to change the perception of the Jaguars’ pass rush moving forward.
