Indiana's Jailin Walker Makes College Football 'Freaks' List

Indiana will have a rare talent patrolling the middle of its defense in coach Curt Cignetti's first season.

Jailin Walker, a 6-foot-1, 218-pound linebacker, made the College Football Freaks List 2024, published Tuesday by Bruce Feldman of The Athletic. He was ranked No. 63 out of 101 selections.

Feldman has put this list together annually since 2005, taking submissions from schools, coaches, teammates, parents, NFL scouts, combine trainers and agents with the goal of highlighting the sport's most physically talented athletes.

Walker joins the Hoosiers as one of 13 transfers from James Madison, where he played three seasons for Cignetti and Bryant Haines, Indiana's new defensive coordinator and linebackers coach. He played in 31 games for the Dukes and arrives in Bloomington with one season of eligibility.

Walker earned an All-Sun Belt honorable mention in each of the last two seasons. As a junior in 2023, he finished second on the team with 61 total tackles, behind fellow linebacker Aiden Fisher, who made 108 tackles and also transferred to Indiana. Together, Walker and Fisher played key roles on a James Madison defense led the nation with 114 tackles for loss and run defense, allowing just 61.5 rushing yards per game.

“It’s fun,” Walker said after Thursday's practice about playing in Haines' defense. “The motto is fast, physical, relentless. So Haines’ defense relies on speed and blitzes. He says freedom equals discipline, so he just lets us fly around, make plays and just enjoy it with the guys.”

Here's what Feldman wrote about Walker.

One of the players who followed Curt Cignetti to the Big Ten from James Madison, Walker earned honorable mention All-Sun Belt Conference last season after recording 61 tackles, 5.5 TFLs and forcing three fumbles. The 6-1, 220-pounder will bring the Hoosiers a lot of speed. He clocked a top speed of 22.5 mph on the GPS. He also vertical-jumped 40 inches this offseason.

“He consistently hits 21-22 mph every day,” Indiana linebacker Aiden Fisher told The Athletic. “He can jump out of the gym. In all of his explosive efforts that we do, he comes in at No. 1 in all of ’em. It’s really impressive. He’s just so explosive.”