CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- As a former college football coach, Curtis Walker understands the importance of NFL teams keeping their intentions private as the draft approaches.
As the dad of a college football player most NFL mock drafts have going to the Carolina Panthers at No. 8, Walker has a curiosity like anybody who follows the selection process.
"You can tell me if they're going to take him,'' said Walker, the father of Georgia edge rusher Jalon Walker, in a somewhat hopeful tone.
The curiosity hits close to home because Jalon went to high school in Salisbury, North Carolina, less than an hour from Carolina's Bank of America Stadium.
His father was the head coach at Salisbury College from 2013-2022 and a linebacker there from 1989-92.
This is where family and friends will gather next Thursday for the first round, and where a bigger party will be held on Saturday. If Jalon has only a short drive down I-85 to be introduced on Friday, it will make travel then and during the season a lot easier.
"Because Jalon will not be far away, and we still have a chance to trek over and watch our youngest play at Georgia State,'' Curtis said.
The key is fit.
Carolina general manager Dan Morgan played it close to the vest at the NFL combine when asked what position he sees Jalon playing in defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero's 3-4 scheme.
He was more forthcoming on Tuesday at a pre-draft news conference, offering insight into what makes the 6-foot-1, 243-pound Butkus Award winner this past season potentially right for Carolina.
"He's an outside linebacker for us, and I feel he can do a lot in our defense,'' Morgan said. "He can play on the outside, you can move him inside, you can do a lot of different things with him on the defense.''
That Morgan sees Walker primarily as an outside linebacker is telling.
The Panthers need an outside linebacker after shoring up the defensive line in free agency. It's arguably their biggest need overall as Morgan rebuilds the NFL's worst defense in 2024.
Morgan, who played inside linebacker at Carolina from 2001-07, can fill it with a player in Walker who would not be a reach at eight. He also could trade back and still get Walker with teams looking to get ahead of the New Orleans Saints at No. 9 to get a quarterback.
Either way, Walker considers himself a good pick.
"You're not going to find a lot of guys who can be at four positions in one series,'' Walker said at the combine. "I feel that makes me the different chess piece that no one else compares to.''
Mike Mayock, a former NFL safety and general manager, has said on multiple media platforms he considers Walker the best edge rusher in the draft, better than Penn State's Abdul Carter. He compared Walker to Dallas Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons, the 2021 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year.
"Every tape I watched [of Walker] I have Micah Parsons,'' said Mayock, adding his jaw dropped the first time he saw Walker run.
Parsons is an elite pass rusher, collecting 52.5 sacks in his four NFL seasons since being taken 12th overall. The Panthers need elite pass rushers on a defense that tied for 30th in the league last season with 32 sacks.
Walker emerged as a pass rusher in 2024 with 6.5 sacks and 11 tackles for loss, his first true year of being an off-ball linebacker as Morgan sees him.
"Being an inside backer, outside backer, sometimes playing that nickel back/SAM, that increases my value and increases the team value as well,'' Walker said. "Because you never know where I'll be at in the game.''
Need more reasons for Walker to be a good fit at Carolina? He was born in Conway, South Carolina, where his dad was a coach at Coastal Carolina (2002-2011). From there he went to Salisbury, so he spent his entire pre-college career in the Carolinas.
One of his favorite players growing up was former Carolina linebacker Thomas Davis, the 14th pick of the 2005 draft out of Georgia.
So he has strong ties to the area.
Growing up the son of a coach also impressed Morgan in terms of Walker's football IQ.
But most important, Walker is a disruptive pass rusher.
Jadeveon Clowney and D.J. Wonnum led Carolina outside linebackers in sacks last season with 5.5 and 4.0, respectively. The lack of more production at that position put a huge burden on the rest of the defense.
That both are in the last year of their contracts means finding a productive replacement is critical. That Clowney, 32, is nearing the end of his career also factors in.
Curtis believes his son is just coming into his own as an edge rusher and is a natural fit on the edge in the 3-4.
Need more? Carolina coach Dave Canales couldn't say enough about Jalon's leadership on the "Up & Adams with Kay Adams Show'' at the NFL owners meeting.
"Just ask him about how he impacts his teammates,'' Canales said. "Every single Georgia Bulldog we talked to [when] they talk about Jalon Walker, they talk about the accountability, the way he pulls the whole group together, the way he plays with his hair on fire and communicates and all those things.''
Walker calls that "passionate energy.''
And it's all less than an hour from Charlotte, causing a lot more intrigue for Curtis than his coaching gene typically allows.
"You can go ahead and tell me if [the Panthers] are going to take him,'' he said one more time. "My mom asked me two days ago where he was going. I told her I'm sure you're getting the same thing I am: 'Have you heard something?'"