Sentell’s Intel is all about the latest Georgia football recruiting info. This rep has the latest with 5-star junior Zayden Walker. He ranks as the nation’s No. 1 LB and the No. 9 overall junior on the 247Sports Composite. The On3 Industry Ranking has him as the nation’s No. 1 LB and the No. 10 junior.
Zayden Walker is the highest-rated junior in the state of Georgia. That’s another big win for tiny Schley County in Southwest Georgia.
Google reports the small town had a population of 4,487 in the 2021 U.S. Census. Yet the town keeps popping out 4-stars and 5-stars and All-Americans.
There are 159 counties in the Peach State. Schley is the seventh-smallest but it keeps popping out prospects centered around one specific family.
Walker’s half-brother, Zykevious, also came from Schley County. The Auburn senior DL was the nation’s No. 3 strong-side DE and No. 79 overall prospect in 2020.
Jalewis Solomon, their brother, is another top prospect. Solomon is the nation’s No. 15 ATH and the No. 199 overall recruit for this cycle. He just decommitted from Auburn this evening.
That story centers around a father that Walker didn’t really know at all. A 2008 report from WALB-TV notes that his father Lewis Walker III was the victim of gun violence at the age of 26.
Zayden Walker says that his father’s memory still motivates him. He’s heard stories about his father from his grandparents and others around town.
“My Dad really drives me,” he said. “I lost him at a very young age. What I get is always great stories when I hear them. He was an athlete, but I don’t think he played high school ball or anything like that. But yeah, he was an athlete for sure.”
When the playoffs roll around, Walker said he writes his father’s name on his tape or gear to honor him. He does that when the games get really serious, he said.
The way his team lost the 2022 state championship game is another motivator. The Wildcats held a halftime lead but were outscored by 10 points in the second half. Schley County fell 39-31 to Bowdon in the GHSA Class 1A Division II state final.
“That game eats me up every time I think about it, “Walker said. “I wish I could have it back so bad but it is in the past. We are coming for it this year and we are going to go out with a bang.”
Walker just saw the ‘Dawgs play at home for the third time this season with the Kentucky game. What’s the feeling like with those?
“It is great,” he said. “I’ve got a funny story for the South Carolina game. I didn’t get there until halftime and you know they were starting slow in the first half. I got there at halftime and I went with my coach Lance and he and I looked at each other and I said ‘Watch this. I bet the whole game turns around’ and the whole game turned around.”
Why is Georgia big for Zayden Walker?
See the header above. He answered that question pretty clearly for DawgNation.
“They were my first offer,” he said. “They’ve been recruiting me the same way since day one to now. I feel like Georgia is really big for me. It is a family feel for sure every time I go up there. I feel like I am a high priority.”
Walker said that Georgia co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Glenn Schumann has let him know he would take his commitment any time he’s ready to give it.
“We get on the phone about every night,” Walker said. “Yes sir. He checks up on me. I check up on him so yes sir we’ve got that strong bond going.”
Check out his mid-season junior highlight film below.
If he did choose the ‘Dawgs eventually, what would be the reason why?
“Really everything,” he said. “I feel like your answer is not ‘everything’ there that you love with why you are choosing a school then I feel like you shouldn’t go there. It really is everything.”
He said Miami is also recruiting him at a very high level just like the Bulldogs.
There are a lot of college games on his mind to see later this season. He plans to be back in Athens for the Missouri game and also in Knoxville for the Georgia game. He also wants to see the Hurricanes play and make it down for the Florida-Florida State game.
Walker already plans to make his commitment prior to his senior year. He saw Solomon commit to Auburn back in August and feels that’s a good time to have his own decision ready prior to the 2024 season.
How rare of an athlete is Zayden Walker?
The 6-foot-3, 225-pound Walker looks like a walking muscle out on the field. The Schley County staff has timed him at a 4.5 in the 40.
“You don’t get to coach this kind of kid maybe once or twice in your entire career,” Schley County coach Darren Alford said. “I got to coach Leonard Pope on his way to Georgia at Americus and he could also do it all. That’s the same thing with Zayden. Zayden can run. He’s got great hands. He can play defense and offense and he’ll do whatever you want him to do.”
“If you want to throw the ball 70 yards he can throw it 70 yards.”
Was he kidding about that part?
“Oh, he can chunk it,” Alford said. “He can get it down there. He can throw the ball.”
Alford said he’s seen Walker throw the shot put approximately 50 feet.
The 5-star has 17 tackles through his first five games, including seven stops for losses. He has also stuffed the stat sheet with 3.5 sacks and 11 hurries.
That’s from mostly lining up as an EDGE. That’s why he’s rated by On3.com as the nation’s No. 1 EDGE for 2025. 247Sports ranks him as the nation’s No. 1 LB prospect. That’s where Georgia is recruiting him to play.
If he chooses the ‘Dawgs, he’d be an inside-the-box linebacker for Schumann.
There was a play he made against Irwin County last year in a scrimmage. He was on the weak side and the play was going to the opposite side of the field. The call was a toss to the left.
The Irwin offense is seen on film all raising their hands like they are about to see a touchdown.
Until Walker flies into the frame.
He stopped that runner on the 8-yard line after chasing it down from across the field. Walker says that’s the best play he’s made in high school.
“You see me come out of nowhere,” he said. “I got him about to the eight. Got him. That’s my favorite play.”
There was another time against Johnson County when they tried to downblock him with three people. That didn’t work.
“He took on three blocks,” Alford said. “Knocked them all down and then he steps inside and still makes the tackle. It was a third-and-1 situation right there and made the tackle for a 3-yard loss. I was like ‘Okay something is different about this kid’ when you can do that.”
The fact that Alford said Walker took down a back who ran for 2,918 yards and 38 scores a year ago adds a little more juice to that story.
The UGA coaching relationships stand out for Zayden Walker
Schumann has already made Walker a priority for some time.
“Man, I get on Facetime with Coach Schumman,” Walker said. “I talk to his kids. I talk to his wife. He really wants to put you in his family.”
He said his relationship with Kirby Smart might be what he likes the most about the ‘Dawgs.
“I love Kirby Smart,” Walker said. “You know talking to him is like talking to one of my homeboys.”
There is a lot that an All-American LB prospect might like about the ‘Dawgs. There are those back-to-back national championships. The No. 1 rankings. The in-state development. The University of Georgia degree. There is the way that Georgia has specifically developed the LB position.
There’s a stat floating around that every linebacker that has started for Schumann at Georgia has made it to the NFL. That’s a big one.
“I mean it is really everything there checks the box for me,” Walker said. “It is in-state. They put a lot of linebackers into the league. I mean, I don’t feel like you can go wrong with Georgia.”
What did it feel like when he got his first offer and it was from the ‘Dawgs?
“It felt like a dream,” he said. “I was sitting in my coach’s office saying there is no way. I mean I’ve always been good at football in my rec years but I have always been humble enough to know there’s a lot more work I have to put in and all that. But when I got it, that just drove me to work even harder.”
Walker scored on a touchdown run and caught a 50-yard touchdown pass down the sideline in a recent game. That’s along with piling up three tackles, one TFL and four QB hurries.
He has four rushing touchdowns and two receiving scores this year. That’s not too bad for a linebacker. That’s another nod to his rec league days when he tore up opponents so much his teammates called him “Zay Train” for all the plays he made as a running back.
The young athlete is superstitious. He recently changed his number to zero because he had some bad luck with the No. 3 he’d been wearing.
“He said that number is cursed,” Alford said.
His older half-brother Zykevious also got hurt when he was wearing that number.
“I wanted to wear zero because when I jumped into number three I tore my meniscus,” Walker said. “When I wore number three in basketball [this winter] I tore my meniscus. So I just wanted a restart. A fresh restart. So I chose zero.”
Check out the recent DawgNation conversation with Walker.
SENTELL'S INTEL
(check on the recent reads on Georgia football recruiting)
