College football 2018: Top 30 breakout players to watch

Watching D’Andre Walker’s highlights from 2017 at Georgia and his high school highlights from 2015, I was confused. How has this guy not started before 2018?

Walker is an absolute monster at 6’3″, 240-pounds with athleticism and quickness to physically dominate opponents. Only he doesn’t just dominate with physicality. Walker is polished, well-rounded and he isn’t just a pass rush specialist. He is as much of a factor stopping the run off the edge as he is in the passing game the way he keeps his eyes on the backfield and reads plays as he fights off blocks.

As a pass rusher, he’s the opposite of a one trick pony. He’ll fly off the ball and beat tackles around the outside, then bull rush inside and just out-muscle blockers. He plays with leverage, uses his hands extremely well to keep blockers from getting leverage on him, and he has a pretty filthy spin move he breaks out a couple of times a game.

Over the last four games of the 2017 season (vs. Georgia Tech, Auburn, Oklahoma and Alabama), Walker had 18 tackles, six tackles for a loss and a pair of sacks. Look for him to pick up where he left off at the end of last season and finish this year on an All-SEC list.