For the second straight year, the Jacksonville Jaguars had the first overall pick in the National Football League draft. A year ago, they selected quarterback Trevor Lawrence from the University of Clemson Tigers to help improve their offense. On Thursday, they selected defensive end Travon Walker of Thomaston, Georgia from the University of Georgia Bulldogs to help improve their defense.
Walker became the 13th defensive end in NFL history to be selected first overall. He follows Bubba Smith of the Baltimore Colts (1967), Walt Patulski of the Buffalo Bills (1972), John Matuszak of the Houston Oilers (1973), Ed Jones of the Dallas Cowboys (1974), Lee Roy Selmon of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1976), Kenneth Sims of the New England Patriots (1982), Bruce Smith of the Buffalo Bills (1985), Steve Emtman of the Indianapolis Colts (1992), Courtney Brown of the Cleveland Browns (2000), Mario Williams of the Houston Texans (2006), Jadeveon Clowney of the Texans (2014), and Myles Garrett of the Browns (2017).
Walker also became the fifth University of Georgia Bulldogs player to be taken first overall. He follows halfback Frank Sinkwich of the Detroit Lions (1943), halfback Charley Trippi of the Chicago Cardinals (1945), end Harry Babcock of the San Francisco 49ers (1953), and quarterback Matthew Stafford of the Lions (2009). Stafford was the Super Bowl winning quarterback for the Rams last season.
This past season, Walker played 13 games for Georgia. He had 33 tackles (17 solo tackles and 16 assisted tackles), 7.5 tackles for a loss, six sacks, two pass deflections and one forced fumble.
Meanwhile, there was only one quarterback taken in the first round. The Pittsburgh Steelers selected Kenny Pickett of the University of Pittsburgh. The fact the Steelers drafted a quarterback should not be a surprise after the retirement of Ben Roethlisberger and death of Dwayne Hoskins.
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