"What I keep hearing over and over and over again is that Trent Baalke has a history of taking the athletic specimen over maybe the sure-thing prospect," Peter Schrager reported on "
Good Morning Football" this week, citing some of Baalke's most notable top picks as the former
49ers GM as evidence: tackle
Anthony Davis (2010), pass rusher
Aldon Smith (2011) and defensive linemen
Arik Armstead (2015) and
DeForest Buckner (2016) were all drafted earlier than widely expected.
NFL Media's Mike Garafolo
echoed Schrager's report Monday, saying he's "heard the chatter (that) Trent Baalke sees a lot of Aldon Smith in Walker," who has seemingly risen up draft boards since his performance at the 2022 scouting combine.