Freshman defensive lineman Deone Walker already has six tackles in two games. (Twitter Photo)
Just like he did in 2018 when Kentucky won at Florida, Vince Marrow joined us on WLAP Sunday Morning Sports (630 AM) to talk about Saturday night’s 26-16 win that vaulted UK to No. 9 in the Associated Press poll this week.
We never know exactly what Marrow might share but it is always fun to let him react to a big win — or anything else when he joins us on other occasions.
Sunday he set a high bar for freshman defensive tackle Deone Walker, 6-6, 330-pound defensive lineman from Detroit. He was a top 300 prospect nationally and a four-star recruit many thought could make an impact in the Southeastern Conference even as a true freshman.
He’s a man’s man and even at 18 years old aces the look test and Marrow loves it.
“Just call him a grown you know what man. He’s a grown man,” the UK associate head coach said Sunday morning. “When we recruited Deone, when I go up there and those guys just tell me how great of a player he is but he’s actually a really good young man.”
“I thought (offensive lineman) Kiyaunta (Goodwin) was huge, I swear I think Deone grew these last three months. Because he looks like he’s about 6-8.”
Now hear is where he set the bar very, very high for Walker.
“I told people, ‘Watch out for him, he can be like Jordan Davis. He really can. He’s really, really gonna be a force for the next couple of years,” Marrow said.
Davis, of course, was the mammoth force on national champion Georgia’s defensive front last year. He was a consensus All-American and first-round NFL draft pick. But Walker has the size and seems to also have the talent to be that good.
Walker made a huge play late in the win at Florida on a third-and-fie play. Walker powered his way into the backfield and dropped the runner for a 1-yard loss. Florida didn’t make the first down on its fourth-down play and that led to a UK field goal that put the margin at 10 points.
“I didn’t even see what happened or how he created it, but I saw him in the backfield,” Stoops said after the game when asked about Walker. “Big bear hug on him to get him down there. That was big.”
Walker had one other tackle against Florida and now has six in two games, including four solo stops.
3 Responses
That young man is the real deal. He manhandled the lineman on the play mentioned above and looked good last week as well. He is my wife’s favorite player. She calls him a big teddy bear. So I Call him D-Bear. LOL The future is bright and the present is right for UK football!
Great “get” !
Don’t think Vince and Coach White get enough credit for our success !!