Logan Walls had the ideal upbringing to play defensive tackle. He grew up the youngest of three brothers.
The worst, Walls said, was when his brothers Lance and Levi held him down and tickled him.
Asked which was more physically rigorous, being the youngest or playing nose tackle in Georgia Tech’s 3-4 defense, Walls paused and thought.
“I’d probably rather play nose,” he said with his easy chuckle.
Walls’ preparation for this role, both at Tech and in the Walls’ home, has found its season of actualization. In the team’s season-opening win over Western Carolina on Thursday, Walls controlled the line of scrimmage and made a career-high seven tackles.
The competition doesn’t compare with what he’ll face the rest of the season, starting with the Yellow Jackets’ visit to Middle Tennessee State on Saturday, but it was a promising start. Coaches named him the defensive player of the game, awarding him a white-paneled football.
“I think they usually are [printed],” Walls said. “This one was just [hand-written].”
As befits his position, Walls is not the type to get caught up in such frills. As the tackle, the 6-foot-2, 300-pound Walls lines up over the center. His role is to tie up blocks, defend running lanes and free up linebackers to make plays, not to win game balls.
“Usually, I take pride in ‘Rambo’ [linebacker Julian Burnett] getting tackles more than me because I’m more there to take on some guys and let Rambo make the tackles, or let [linebacker Daniel] Drummond make the tackle,” Walls said.
It is not a position for glory hounds. Walls takes on double and even triple teams more often than not. As a result, he usually doesn’t make many tackles. On Sunday mornings after games, he wakes up sometimes able to turn his head and sometimes not.
“Somebody that can sit there and somebody that can take on [punishment] throughout a game on a daily basis earns some respect,” defensive end Izaan Cross said.
Just as Walls eventually turned the tables on his brothers, both of whom walked on at Tech, by outgrowing them, he feels more capable of getting the better of his opponents. In his third season as a starter, but his second in defensive coordinator Al Groh’s scheme, the assignments and responsibilities have become more ingrained.
“In the beginning, it was uncomfortable because we hadn’t really done it,” said Walls, from Dawsonville. “But now, it just happens. It’s easier.”
On the field, Walls said, he and defensive ends Jason Peters and Cross will know their assignments even before Burnett makes the call in the huddle. Along with his improvement in technique — being quicker to engage and jolt offensive linemen with his hands and playing with more effective leverage — Walls’ progress bodes well for Tech’s defense.
The more effective Walls is controlling the center of the line of scrimmage, whether it’s pushing back the pocket or mucking up running lanes, the better the Yellow Jackets’ chances of stalling opposing offenses. That didn’t happen nearly enough last season, when Tech was ninth in the ACC in total defense and scoring defense.
“The 3-4 starts in the middle, and you like having a guy like him in the middle,” defensive line coach Andy McCollum said.
On Monday, McCollum gushed about Walls, a two-time member of the ACC’s all-academic team who earned his management degree in May. He praised his work ethic, his toughness, his selfless attitude and non-stop effort.
“That’s really what you want your son to grow up to be like, like Logan Walls,” he said.
For his sake, it would help if he’s not ticklish.
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