A part of the newly signed undrafted free agents for the Chicago Bears, Cavon Walker (pronounced say-von) is the versatile defensive lineman from Maryland. Starting his career as a linebacker, he transferred to the defensive line (and put on about 60 pounds in preparation) in his junior season. Racking up 89 tackles and 4.5 sacks in his career, Walker mostly went under the radar for most teams until the Bears scooped him up after the draft and was gracious enough to provide our own Eduardo Monk Jr. with an exclusive interview.
Q: Run me through the draft process. Was there anything unexpected or surprising to you?
Walker: The most interesting thing would probably being around great competition, playing with guys like Terry Thomas, Kendrick Norton, all great defensive lineman, makes you push yourself a little more. Other than that, it’s just being a tough hard-nosed guy, focusing on things like technique for Pro Day, because I know the type of football player I am.
Q: What do you hope for yourself and your career in football?
Walker: I just want to get out there, first I want to establish my name before anything. I mean, I am not going to try to be a leader or anything. I just want to show people the work, I want to come in every day with my lunch bucket and everything, put my hard hat on. Get right to work. I just want to show these guys I belong here. When you come into a program, an organization like that, Chicago Bears with the tradition and defense and everything, it’s a great thing. Also, my former high school teammate Eddie Goldman plays there so another thing why it’s great to be here.
Q: Why do you believe you went undrafted?
Walker: My style of play was dictated by the way my coaches wanted me to play. I had to play the scheme before I had to do myself. With that being said, the way we played blocks, I didn’t get off the ball. Guys want to see you get off the ball, but I move when the tackle moves, I move when the guard moves, I play the block. I ran a 3-4, ran a 4-3, I am versatile but our base front was a three-down front. I was in a four I, that really isn’t a glorified position that people want to see, they want to see you penetrate upfield, they want to see you disrupt. But the way I was told to play, where I had to play, I had to play those two blocks before I could do anything. So my get off didn’t look as fast as it is because of the way I had to play those blocks first.
Q: Now playing under Vic Fangio, how does that feel?
Walker: It feels amazing man, it’s a great opportunity to show that I am ready and that I belong.
Q: What was your favorite game of your college career?
Walker: My favorite game of my college career would probably be against Ohio State this past season. It was just, being able to play against one of the best O-lines and then getting to JT Barrett so many times in that game, like disrupting his play. It was amazing. He came to me after to game, like “hey man you’re so hard to beat” and hearing that from a great quarterback like himself made me feel better about myself.
