Mel Kiper’s 1st 2022 mock draft sends Cowboys a Georgia defender in Round 1

With their elimination from the playoffs this past Sunday, the Dallas Cowboys locked themselves into the 24th overall pick in April’s draft. The team has a myriad of offseason needs and they will likely do their usual process of avoiding big-name free agents, looking for bargains such as Jayron Kearse and bringing back their own players.

The one true chance Dallas has at landing an impact player from outside the organization comes in the form of their first round pick, and in his first mock of the offseason, ESPN’s Mel Kiper has decided to provide Dallas with a talented edge rusher to help aid in their ability to stop opposing quarterbacks and their passing game. In this mock, Kiper sends Dallas to the SEC, college football’s most fruitful division, and to the national champion Georgia Bulldogs. Defensive end Tra

von Walker is an intriguing selection for the Cowboys.

24 Dallas Cowboys, Travon Walker, DE, Georgia

Stats

Class: Junior
Height: 6-foot-5
Weight: 275 pounds

2019: 9 games, 2.5 sacks, 15 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, 1 pass deflections
2020: 7 games, 1 sack, 1 INT, 1 forced fumble, 13 tackles, 2 for loss
2021: 13 games, 6 sacks 33 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss, 2 PDs, 1 FR

Highlights

The Draft Network Evaluation

(Curtis Compton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)

Link

Georgia’s Travon Walker is an exciting defensive lineman who offers rare athleticism and versatility along the defensive front. Walker, a former 5-star recruit and high school basketball star, has been a mainstay for the Bulldogs in his three-year career but has taken his game to the next level as a junior. Walker has outstanding size and length for the position and pairs those attributes together with rare athleticism. As a pass rusher, Walker displays rare get-off and explosion off the snap. He can easily win edges and shoot through gaps with his explosive and quick-twitch movements. He flashes very good power at the point of attack and has a terrific long arm, which he utilizes to knock back and shock offensive tackles. Walker primarily wins with quickness and speed-to-power as a pass rusher, failing to show consistent hand counters and secondary rush moves. In the run game, Walker sets a firm edge with a strong lock-out and anchor. He has outstanding lateral pursuit and consistently makes plays across the line of scrimmage or down the field with excellent effort. He struggles to get off blocks at times and can be slow tracking the football. All in all, Walker has rare athletic upside with position versatility but needs to develop into more of an impact player to warrant as high of a pick as his athletic traits suggest.

1

1