Devin Lloyd and Travon Walker No Longer Rookies in Eyes of Jaguars Coaches

The 2022 first-round picks have quickly emerged as cornerstones to the Jaguars defense.

When the Jaguars elected to draft Travon Walker with the first overall pick in April’s draft, many questioned whether he was the right choice, or if he was even the top edge rusher in his class. Michigan edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson was considered the safe and obvious choice coming off a senior season where he recorded 11 sacks, 55 total tackles, 13.5 tackles for loss, 2 defended passes, and 2 forced fumbles.

But through the first six weeks of the season, Walker has shown his proficiency in rushing the passer, above-average cover skills for an outside linebacker, and his size and athleticism make him a physical presence in defending the run. Head coach Doug Pederson made clear that in Walker’s brief NFL career thus far, his play has helped elevate the Jaguars' defense.

“It’s all complimentary football,” Pederson said on Friday. “I think in Travon’s case, with his size and athleticism, he’s a guy that can be a dominant edge setter over there, and in the run game, he can be physical in the run game. You’ve seen him, his athleticism, as he drops into coverage. Then everybody, if they do their assignments, can play and feed off of one another. It helps the entire defense when one, two, three, or all of them are playing good.”

Fellow first-round draft pick Devin Lloyd is another defensive player that has quickly exceeded expectations and is putting up top linebacker numbers early in the season. The former Utah linebacker has recorded 6 defended passes, 49 total tackles, and 2 interceptions. His elite play recognition, physicality, and athleticism have made him a force to be reckoned with in both the run and pass.

Like Walker, Lloyd has quickly shown to the team and the rest of the league that they are way ahead of the rookie curve and can shed the rookie label altogether, even though they still have stuff to learn as the season progresses.

“Yes, it does go away because they have played now, but I still think they’re learning the game, and I think one thing that Travon will understand more and more is if teams start to gameplan for him,” Pederson said. “Now he has to really pay attention to that, and it can help other guys on the line there. Those are all things now, as he gets more play time, and as the game progresses, how they are attacking him. That’s the next phase, I think, for both of those guys.”

“I think it’s starting to slow down for them. Everything’s not new anymore," Jaguars defensive coordinator Mike Caldwell said on Thursday. 

"They can anticipate a little bit better, and those guys, they do a great job of studying, coming to work, and listening to coaches and listening to other players. That’s helping in their growth, and I think coach said it earlier this week, we’re five games into the season, there are no rookies anymore. You’ve played a bunch, so they’re starting to perform like vets.”

While five games into the season is still relatively young, it still offers teams the opportunity to evaluate young talent, and figure out where they fit offensively and defensively. For the Jacksonville Jaguars, five games have been an adequate amount of time to evaluate player strengths and weaknesses in game situations.

“No, I don’t think it’s a small sample,” Pederson said. “I think this is the time of the season where we kind of figure out who we are and who we want to be, that identity. I think now, the month of October is that time for all the teams, really, coming out of preseason, kind of finding their way for the first month. Even for us, just understanding some of our younger players, some of the draft picks, how they’re fitting in offensively and defensively. I think there’s enough of a sample size here to really start to figure out all of that.”