Why Jalon Walker Will Break This Streak For the Georgia Bulldogs on Draft Night

The NFL Draft is set to take place this week as hundreds of eager college football prospects will await for their names to be called and for their dreams of reaching the NFL to come true. The draft also provides an opportunity for many teams to flex their muscle for their recruiting and development abilities of players. Something that the Georgia Bulldogs have done extremely well over the past few seasons.

The Bulldogs have utterly dominated the draft as of late and have produced multiple first-round selections, including many who were taken inside of the top 10. But while the Dawgs have littered the first round and first 10 selections, there is one position group that has not experienced as much success.

The Bulldogs’ linebacker group, while not lacking in talent whatsoever, has not had a first-round selection since the 2022 NFL Draft and has gone even longer without having a linebacker taken inside the top 10. The last Georgia linebacker to do so was Roquan Smith, who was selected eighth overall by the Chicago Bears in the 2018 NFL Draft.

Enter Jalon Walker, the Butkus Award winner and the Bulldogs’ leader in sacks for the 2024 season. Walker’s dominant year earned him numerous projections as a top-10 selection this year and he is extremely likely to be the first Bulldog taken in the 2025 NFL Draft.

Walker’s likely selection as a top 10 pick in this year’s NFL Draft will not only end a more than five-year drought of Bulldog linebackers taken inside the top 10, but will also continue to cement Georgia’s ability to develop the linebacker position and produce some of the NFL’s most talented prospects.

Linebacker Jalon Walker will end an NFL Draft streak for the Georgia Bulldogs on selection night.