Jalon Walker became the first Georgia Bulldogs to be selected by the Atlanta Falcons since the 1960s, and fans are eager to see what he can do in the NFL. Walker was selected by the Falcons with the No. 15 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, and on Friday night, he made his NFL Preseason debut against the Detroit Lions.
Walker impressed during training camp, even suffering a small hamstring injury late in July, and now it's his time to figure out what the NFL is really like in preseason.
Walker played just 19 snaps, but was a part of the starting lineup along with fellow first-round pick James Pearce Jr. from Tennessee. Pearce played 18 snaps, but did have some stats during the game. Walker, however, didn't generate a lot of pressure, but his power was certainly shown when he was on the field.
Here is a video of every snap that Walker played in his debut:
Every Jalon Walker snap from his 2025 NFL Preseason debut. pic.twitter.com/2QXaREdhTL
— Nick Penticoff (@NickPenticoff) August 10, 2025
Right now, the biggest thing for Walker isn't to light up the stat sheet, but to simply get used to the pace of an NFL game. The NFL is certainly a different beast compared to college football, and for Walker and Pearce, who are going to be starters for a Falcons pass rush that struggled yet again last year, they need to get the flow of the league.
In the NFL, guys hit harder, things move faster, and coaches don't wait until you have made three or four mistakes before they take you out of the game. So in the preseason games, right now, Walker's biggest goal is just to find comfort in his new style of play, which seems to be exactly what he did in his debut.
So, before Georgia fans go freaking about how he only played 19 snaps and he didn't have much to show in the stat sheet, they should know that his coaches are asking for him to make all of his highlight plays right now. If anything, playing under the radar right now is good, so opposing teams don't have a lot of film on him at this level to game plan against.