Do the Jaguars Already Regret Drafting Travon Walker Over Aidan Hutchinson?
Heading into the 2022 NFL Draft, the Jacksonville Jaguars had a handful of strong candidates for the No. 1 overall pick, but even until the 11th hour, it didn't feel like any of them had separated themselves from the pack.
There were pass rushers like Oregon's Kayvon Thibodeaux and Michigan's Aidan Hutchinson, and offensive tackles like Alabama's Evan Neal and North Carolina State's Ickey Ekwonu.
But after a dominant performance at the NFL Scouting Combine, it was Georgia do-it-all defender Travon Walker who made a massive leap into the conversation, and ended up stealing all the thunder along with that top spot on the draft board.
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After watching their respective rookie seasons, and Hutchinson's dominant performance in Thursday night's regular-season opener against the Kansas City Chiefs, is it too early to wonder if the Jags have buyer's remorse on taking Walker instead?
It's not that Walker didn't show his own flashes of brilliance last year, putting his rare combination of size, athleticism and versatility on display on multiple occasions. But his 3.5 sacks and five tackles for loss fell well short of the 9.5 sacks and nine tackles for loss Hutchinson racked up on his way to finishing second in the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year voting.
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Long-term upside was always the allure with Walker, so it's still possible that at some point, he starts to put it all together and maximize those rare physical traits to become a dominant NFL defender.
But so far, Hutchinson has been the better player, playing with more polish and production, and making a bigger impact than the only player who was drafted ahead of him last year.
