The upcoming 2022 NFL Draft is shaping up to be an unusual one, with plenty of uncertainty surrounding the first handful of picks.
The seeming unpredictability with just over a week to go before the event has made this year's draft a "mysterious" one, a "top" general manager reportedly told Peter King of NBC Sports.
King notes there's a good chance that none of the top 10 players off the board will be skill-position players -- meaning quarterbacks, wide receivers, and running backs -- for the first time since 1936.
One player who seems to be at least partly responsible for that development is edge rusher Travon Walker.
The former Georgia standout has apparently rocketed up big boards during the leadup to the draft. Initial projections had him going late in the first round or early in the second round, but now he seems destined to go in the top 10.
In fact, several executives and coaches told King that Walker could end up going first overall, in what would be something of a stunning turn.
One of the executives that King spoke to cited Jaguars GM Trent Baalke's history of bucking the trend when it comes to player evaluations:
“Tough call for Jacksonville, because [Michigan’s] Aidan Hutchinson’s such a safe pick. I look at [Jags GM] Trent Baalke’s history going back to San Francisco. That year he picked Aldon Smith [2011], look who he passed on—J.J. Watt, Cam Jordan. Bigger guys, sturdier guys. Trent picked the guy with tools and traits, Smith. That’s why I think he’ll take Travon Walker. Great kid, and he’s got all the traits except consistent production.”
Walker, 21, is viewed by some as a classic pre-draft stock riser, with his impressive physical attributes seeming to outweigh his relative lack of eye-popping college stats.
There is a sense among draft gurus and scouts that his immense talents weren't quite harnessed to the fullest at Georgia, where he moved around between different positions and played on a star-studded defense that led the Bulldogs to a national title a season ago.
With a prototypical combination of size and speed -- but relatively little production compared to fellow edge rushers Aidan Hutchinson and Kayvon Thibodeaux -- Walker would seem to have a high ceiling but also potentially a lower floor than his peers.
A coach told King:
“I bet Jacksonville takes Walker. But I don’t know how great they’ll feel taking a projection one overall.”
If Walker crashes the party at No. 1, it could set up a fascinating domino effect where Hutchinson, a Michigan native who starred for the Wolverines, is still on the board for the Lions at No. 2.
Thibodeaux, once thought to the be the presumed No. 1 overall pick, could also very well go in the top three, making it a clean sweep for edge rushers at the top of the draft.
Thibodeaux's draft stock has seen the opposite phenomenon as Walker's, with one damning report suggesting he could slip all the way to the mid-teens.
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