Jaguars' Travon Walker Enters a Critical Season in Jacksonville

The Jacksonville Jaguars head into the 2025 regular season with a new regime. General manager James Gladstone and head coach Liam Coen are leading a charge as a team with energy and youth instilled to a roster that offers enough talent to make a run at the postseason.

Jacksonville is headlined by franchise quarterback Trevor Lawrence, who enters a big season after becoming one of the highest-paid quarterbacks in league history last offseason. Surrounded by a competent offense on paper, the Jaguars have a chance to become a formidable unit under Coen this season. However, it's the defense with the biggest question marks.

Star pass rusher Josh Hines-Allen and cornerback Tyson Campbell are the two cornerstones of the Jaguars defense, one that was among the worst in the league last season. Under new defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile, there should be drastic improvement in all phases, including the front seven.

A key player from this group will be former 2022 No. 1 draft choice Travon Walker, who had his fifth-year option pick-up before this year's draft. Walker is a gifted physical speciman and athlete that was fonded over by former GM Trent Baalke with the hope he could transform into the next Aldon Smith. However, much has been debated about whether Walker was even the right choice in 2022 with Aidan Hutchinson on the board.

I wrote in February about this conversation considering Hutchinson's quick rise into a star pass rusher himself in Detroit. The Jaguars hit on their No. 1 pick, even though he hasn't come with the same hype as his counterpart. I wrote, "Walker may have been the least popular choice at the time but he has far from a significant disappointment as he has become a formidable player on the Jaguars defense in the last two years."

Even so, Walker must begin producing like a top draft choice. 10-plus sacks in the last two years is great production, but what could put Walker over the top as a true cornerstone piece of the franchise is a year where he is in contention for the sacks lead and puts up similar numbers to Hines-Allen in 2023 (17.5 sacks).

This season will determine whether Walker earns himself a typical long-term deal that doesn't make him anywhere close to the highest-paid defensive player, or he receives one of the biggest contracts by a non-quarterback in NFL history. It's up to Walker to pick up the tab and force the issue for Jacksonville.