General manager Trent Baalke hinted that there's little between Aidan Hutchinson and Travon Walker in the Jacksonville Jaguars' thinking as they prepare to pick first in next week's NFL Draft.
Hutchinson is 5/9 to become the No.1 overall selection on Thursday, but 6/4 Walker has shot up all the analysts' draft boards in recent weeks to give him a legitimate shot at usurping the Michigan defensive end.
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Baalke made no unequivocal statements as he addressed the media at the Jaguars' pre-draft press conference on Friday, suggesting to some that Hutchinson may not be a sure thing to hear his name called first on the stage at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
"Aidan [Hutchinson]'s a good football player," said the Jags GM, via Sports Illustrated.
"There's other good football players in this draft. Who's going to be the best player when it's all said and done? Heck, if we knew that we'd go to Vegas and lay the money down."
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Hutchinson's headline numbers certainly read better than Walker's after the 6-6, 265-pounder had a school-record 14 sacks and 19 tackles for loss last season.
Walker recorded a mere 7.5 tackles for loss, six sacks and two pass breakups in his final year at Georgia, but the 6-5, 275-pound defensive end displayed jet-heeled 4.51 speed at the NFL Combine and seems to possess the sort of qualities that could make him a big NFL star.
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"I think when you look at both those players, they're both productive in their own way," added Baalke.
"[They're] used differently, totally different schemes, used differently within those schemes.
"Again, you're looking at them, you're looking at how they made their plays, how they were used, and then you have a vision for how you can use them. All of that plays a part, but traits are important, production is important. You weigh it all."
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