Jalon Walker 2025 NFL Draft Projections and Odds

Few FBS programs have developed the type of professional football talent in recent years that the Georgia Bulldogs have under head coach Kirby Smart. The SEC stalwart has produced the third-most first round picks of any school since 2014, with 17.

Linebacker Jalon Walker is likely to be next.

With the Super Bowl over, and as we await legal Georgia sports betting, our attention can shift toward April’s 2025 NFL Draft. At BetGeorgia.com, we developed odds projecting what NFL team will draft Georgia’s Jalon Walker.

Jalon Walker 2025 NFL Draft Odds

Only SEC rival Alabama (30 picks) and Big Ten powerhouse Ohio State (23) have churned out more first-round picks over the past decade than UGA.

Walker took home the Butkus Award while being named as a first-team All-American and a second team All-SEC player for the Bulldogs this season. NFL.com projects him to go to the Houston Texans at No. 13 in the first round by NFL.com – the site projects the AFC South team to get there by trading up with the Miami Dolphins.

The three-year star in Athens is ranked eighth on Mel Kiper’s big board on ESPN.com, speaking to the type of talent that the North Carolina native brings to the NFL after a season where he finished with 62 tackles, 7 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks for the Bulldogs.

Where Will Jalon Walker Go?

Our favorite to land the UGA linebacker is the Carolina Panthers, who currently hold the eighth pick in April’s first round of the 2025 NFL Draft. We give the NFC South franchise a 40% chance to grab Walker; that would equal +150 odds if there were legal Georgia sportsbook apps to offer such wagers on Jalon Walker 2025 NFL Draft odds.

Carolina’s NFC South rival from Atlanta is second at +200 odds on our list.

Throw in a pair of NFC longshots, the Detroit Lions at +1050 and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at +1150, and you have the current board of teams that we see drafting Walker out of Georgia.

There are plenty of NFL teams that would be more than happy to have the man who appeared in 43 games with the Bulldogs on their 53-man roster this fall.

For now, we’ll give the Panthers the slightest of edges when it comes to the race to land Walker out of UGA, with Carolina using that eighth pick in the first round to land a player with the type of potential to be a one-man tour de force in the heart of a team’s defense in the years to come.

USA Today photo by Brett Davis