The career of Georgia Tech cornerback Zamari Walton had a humble beginning. The first snap of his college career took place against Alcorn State in the 2018 season opener. He was a freshman, newly arrived from Melbourne, Fla. Lined up across from a Braves wide receiver, Walton backpedaled at the snap and then the Alcorn State quarterback sprinted out to his side and tossed a spiral to the receiver Walton was defending. Walton jumped the route.
“It was crazy because I was literally by myself,” Walton told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Wednesday. “I made a good break, broke on the ball and the ball went straight through my hands. It was literally just me and the end zone.”
The game summary credits Walton with a pass breakup. His teammates are not quite so generous.
“They mess with me every year about it,” he said. “My first play ever, I could have had a pick-6.”
On Wednesday, Walton looked back, literally and figuratively, from a spot at the top of the lower bowl of Bobby Dodd Stadium.
“Yep – right there,” he said, pointing to the east sideline.
That was four years and 45 games ago for Walton. A bookend – possibly the final home game of his career – arrives Saturday with the Yellow Jackets’ game against Miami as the team will honor its players before their final game in Bobby Dodd Stadium.
“It really hasn’t hit me yet,” Walton said. “I have to talk to my mom a little bit about it, but it’s definitely going to be an emotional roller coaster. But I’m excited. I’m excited to be here with my teammates and celebrate. I don’t know what comes after this, but I’m going to be in the moment and whatever happens, happens.”
Walton has stayed long enough to experience what appears to be a renaissance for the Tech defense, particularly the secondary. Walton, a starter since his sophomore season in 2019, was part of a secondary that was experienced and not lacking in talent, but that was ineffective against the pass. The bottom dropped out last season, when the Jackets finished last in FBS in defensive passing efficiency.
Walton was the lone returning starter and welcomed a new secondary coach, Travares Tillman. Despite being surrounded by first-year starters, the defensive backfield arguably has been the most improved position group on the team.
Tech is tied for 35th in defensive passing efficiency and its 10 interceptions are tied for 20th in FBS according to cfbstats. Last year, the Jackets had three interceptions all season, including only one by a defensive back. Through nine games, Tech has allowed 11 pass plays of 30 yards or more. The Jackets gave up 26 last year and 22 the year before that in a 10-game season.
“It just shows that a lot of the young guys are buying in – really, everybody in that room,” Walton said. “So it’s really cool to see guys buying in and being able to get picks and stuff like that. It’s just a fun feeling.”
The notion of players buying in is meaningful to Walton, as the secondary last year was hampered by poor communication and a shortage of trust.
“It’s just everybody (being) able to critique each other,” Walton said. “We’re all able to say things that we can work on. It’s just a good feeling that we are all basically coaches on the field, being able to tell each other something if we see something. So it’s just a really good feeling.”
Starting all nine games, Walton has been credited with a team-high six pass breakups in addition to one interception. In his first three seasons, he had a total of 11 breakups and two interceptions. While the statistics don’t tell the entire story, Walton’s man-to-man coverage has been consistently effective. Against Virginia Tech, when safety Clayton Powell-Lee latched onto a Grant Wells pass for a game-changing interception, it was Walton who was positioned to deflect the pass with his tight coverage.
“He’s playing really, really good football right now,” Tillman said of Walton on interim coach Brent Key’s radio show two weeks ago. “I’m proud of the way he prepares. He has no fear, which is good. He’s a boring corner. I love boring corners. He just goes out and does his job and stays on top of receivers.”
Walton is holding onto the possibility of returning in 2023. With an extra season of eligibility available to him because of COVID-19, Walton has yet to decide on whether to return or pursue the NFL. He’ll take part in Senior Day accompanied by his mother, Anetta Wellmaker, and grandmother Valerie Bannister.
“It’s really 50/50 right now,” he said. “I’m undecided. I don’t know what I really want to do yet, so I just kind of let it go and we’ll see.”
For the final three games of this season, Walton wants to help get his team into a bowl game. At 4-5, the Jackets need to get to six wins to secure bowl eligibility, although it’s possible that Tech could win a bowl spot with a 5-7 record if there is a shortage of bowl-eligible teams. After Miami, Tech finishes at No. 15 North Carolina and No. 1 Georgia.
Tech’s last bowl trip was in 2018, Walton’s first season. It would be no small accomplishment for a team after three consecutive three-win seasons.
“That would be amazing,” Walton said. “We haven’t been to one in three years. So that would be a really big deal for coach Key coming in and replacing coach (Geoff) Collins and then just the younger guys and, really, the seniors that are leaving and may not come back. It’d be a big deal.”
Walton is on track to earn his business degree in December. He has embraced the environment beyond football.
“I’ve learned a lot of things and I’ve met a lot of people,” Walton said. “I think that’s the biggest thing for me, is just making a lot of friends and networking with people outside of football.”
His favorite classes, he said, were semesters of finite math and information technology, part of degree requirements. They have been a stumbling block for many Tech students, and they were for Walton.
“I challenged myself that I had to pass those two classes, and I did,” Walton said. “I’m not going to say they were my two favorite, but I made them my favorite because I knew that, coming in, I heard a lot of people didn’t pass them. So I knew that for myself, that was my goal, to pass those classes.”
He got a B in the IT class and a C in finite math.
“I worked real hard for that C,” Walton said. “I was excited seeing that I got that (grade) driving on the way back home.”
It is perhaps fitting that a student who has embraced Tech’s academic rigor has also made it through a most fallow chapter of the school’s football history with a smile and a positive attitude. He is playing for his third head coach and his third position coach. Defensive tackle D’Quan Douse hailed Walton for his leadership and his technical approach to football.
“You just love to watch guys like that and learn from them,” Douse said.
Within the confines of Bobby Dodd Stadium, Saturday’s game may be the final chance for Douse, his teammates and Jackets fans to do so.
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