Is Travon Walker heating up? The Jacksonville Jaguars hope so.
Flashbacks of last year's Divisional Round likely haunted the Jaguars earlier in the season. Against a hobbled Patrick Mahomes, the Jaguars' pass-rush looked neutered and ineffective in the biggest game of the year.
Fast forward to a must-win game in Week 17 this year, and the Jaguars got a very different result.
The difference in opponent matters, obviously. The Jaguars were playing the Super Bowl champions last year. This week, they played the worst team in the NFL in the Carolina Panthers.
But when it comes to Walker's development, the Jaguars can't nitpick. They have needed their No. 1 overall pick to start producing like a building block for two seasons now, and in recent weeks it has finally come to fruition, capped off by Walker's first-ever two-sack game in Sunday's 26-0 win.
A year after just 3.5 sacks in his rookie campaign, Walker now has nine -- good for the 12th most in a single season in Jaguars franchise history. And Walker's teammates have taken notice, too.
"I mean, I'm blessed and highly favored by the man above, first and foremost. I've got incredible teammates who backed me up this whole season, who witnessed me really high, really low, stayed with me, continue to be with me and I continue to be with those guys as well. I couldn't have done it by myself," Josh Allen said after he set the Jaguars record with a three-sack game.
"Shout out to Tre (OLB Travon Walker), too. He's got nine sacks on the year so far, almost getting double digits. That's a testament of us keep working and battling with each other. And still got one more left to go, and we have to keep going."
Walker still ranks outside the top-80 in terms of win-rate, which shows that he has potentially been more lucky and high-effort than anything else during his nearly 10-sack campaign. But if his win-rate is comparable to his rookie year and the sacks are nearly tripled, that isn't something the Jaguars can turn their nose up at.
"And that's one thing, record's are meant to be broken. I can't wait for somebody to break my record. I had a record in college. They broke that record. And I believe Tre (Walker) will break this record," Allen said.
"For me to be in the history books, it's a huge -- I'm a legacy type of guy, I want to leave a legacy everywhere I go. This is a huge accomplishment for myself, the team and for my family as well. Man, I didn't do it by myself, first and foremost. So shout-out to everybody who was a part of it."
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