Walker was one of two first-round selections by the Jaguars Thursday, with the team trading the Nos. 33, 106 and 180 selections to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers select Utah linebacker Devin Lloyd at No. 27. Lloyd’s introductory press conference will be Saturday at TIAA Bank Field.
“Defensive players – it’s a premium,” Baalke said. “You have to be able to stop these explosive [NFL] offenses now and that’s not getting any easier. When you have a chance to pick a marquee player, that all factors into it.”
Walker, who had 9.5 career sacks with 15 starts at Georgia, smiled, too, when discussing the player the Jaguars selected No. 1 overall last April: Quarterback Trevor Lawrence, who Walker said he knows well from their home state and from multiple recruiting visits.
“I’ve known him since high school, so I feel like he’ll be somebody who will take me under his wing,” Walker said. “When I came [to TIAA Bank Field] on my Top 30 visit [in April], he was working out and he ran up to me.
“I just…