Vicky Graff Photo
If you have watched Kentucky play, you know how good sophomore defensive lineman Deone Walker is.
He’s so good that coach Mark Stoops made sure to let him know he was not leaving for Texas A&M because Stoops knew many other coaches, including some in the SEC, would love to poach a big, strong, explosive defensive line from UK to add to their roster.
Walker and kick return specialist Barion Brown were both named third-team All-Americans by the College Football Network. Not bad considering the SEC coaches did not put Walker on any of the three teams they picked. The Associated Press media poll had Walker as a first-team pick.
The 6-6, 330-pound Walker can dominate games and has started 24 of 25 career games, including 23 straight for the Wildcats.
He has a rare combination of size, speed and physicality that few defensive linemen have. He finished the regular season with 51 tackles, most for a UK interior lineman since Cory Johnson in 2015.
Walker also had a team-high 10.5 tackles for loss, a team-high 5.5 sacks and a team-high eight quarterback hurries. He also had two pass breakups, one of which led to an interception.
He did all that despite always being the focus of opposing offenses and drawing either double-team or even triple-team blocks.
2 Responses
Jealousy period. If he had been at Georgia he would be 1st team. Looks like we got our QB for next year. They are all mad about that too. Go Cats!
Sad, but It don’t matter, this slight will be handled by the big defender soon. This glaring slight will just put more fire in his belly in 2024 I believe.
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