UK Athletics Photo
No matter how many preseason honors come to Kentucky junior defensive lineman Deone Walker nothing surprises me because he’s that good.
Walker was named a Preseason Second Team All-American by Walter Camp this week and should be because he is expected to be one of the Southeastern Conference’s most dominant defensive players again this season.
The 6-6, 348-pound Walker led UK in tackles for loss with 12.5 last season along with quarterback sacks (7.5) and quarterback hurries (8) despite almost always being double teamed by some of the nation’s best teams.
He also added two pass breakups, including one in Kentucky’s win over Florida on Sept. 30, which was intercepted by UK and led to an eventual touchdown.
Kentucky associate coach Vince Marrow said over a month ago that Walker should be a top 12 pick at worst in the 2025 NFL draft and could go as high as No. 1.
Walter Camp is the nation’s oldest college football All-America team and shows the national respect that Walker has earned after leaving Michigan to play for the Cats.
Walker started every game last year and has made 24 straight starts the last two seasons to show his durability which NFL teams have to love.
Walker, one of UK’s captains last season, was named to the Lott IMPACT Trophy, Bronko Nagurksi and Outland Trophy Watch Lists in 2023,. He set or tied single-game career highs in every category last season, including recording nine tackles at South Carolina, four tackles for loss (-7 yards) at Missouri, one sack (-6 yards) last at South Carolina, one pass breakup at Georgia and two quarterback hurries (-10 yards) against Eastern Kentucky.
Walker was recently named to the 2024 Lott IMPACT Trophy Watch List and has also earned preseason second-team All-America nods from Athlon Sports and Phil Steele.
6 Responses
UK recruiting 4 @ 4-stars is rewarding for solid recruiting efforts – now a 10-win season could parlay that into more & more quality recruiting to sustain a program in the elite level of the SEC.
Both sides of the ball have talent & depth & potential for back-to-back 10-win seasons which would be amazing!
I posted on the wrong thread about recruits.
UK sure has a star in Walker – full package w/valuable leadership as well.
yes he is Little Baron
I’ve never seen a player some dominant on a 3 man line. Even with double teams he still manages to breakthrough and get in the backfield almost every play. If he has gotten stronger and a little more light on his feet then this year is going to be scary. Add with that 2 other down lineman who have experience and they have gotten better every year too. The linebackers might be even better than the line. With JJ Weaver( This will be his breakout year). D. Jackson who has been the best linebacker the last 2 seasons and he’s going to be even better this year, with experience and more dedication to his craft. Pop is going to be Pop if he didn’t get injured last year, then he would be playing in the NFL this year instead we get him his last year and he will be better than ever. Our front 7 will absolutely dominate. Their will be no running against Kentucky. Our secondary will be much improved as well. No more 3rd and 8 conversions. I think we cause more turnovers this year and that will be the deciding factor in some of our games. I don’t understand how everyone is predicting 6wins when we are literally better at every position. The 2 positions that have hurt us the last 2 years are finally fixed the offensive line and the secondary. If we can play clean football and not get as many penalties we will be very hard to beat. I think we can beat any team on our schedule. Plus we will win the games we should win and a couple more. I say 8 wins is the ground floor and 10 wins is the ceiling. The good thing about this year that we’ve never had before is a great 2nd team. Usually halfway through the year we are banged up with no replacements. That’s why we start fast and end slow. God forbid if something happened to Brock we at least have Gavin and Beau and they are a major step up from our past backup quarterbacks. The 2 positions that will kill the season of injuries occur is Wide Receiver because behind Dane Key Jami Maclin and Barion Brown their is a big drop off. Another position we need healthy is Running back. Behind chip we have Demi,but Demi isn’t a power runner. He’s more of a receiver out of the backfield. I just hope Patterson will be ready for some reps if needed. 9-3 (5-3)…
Our defense line/edge will be massive:
Walker 6’6" 348
Silver 6’4" 322
Hayes 6’3" 317
Gilbert 6’5" 292
Saunders 6"5" 285
Dinkins 6’5" 280
Linebackers:
Wade 6’5" 250
Weaver 6’5" 244
Jackson 6’1" 245
Not many pro teams can boast of that kind of size. We should be tough against the run. Will the secondary hold its own?
Nice summary. Yes, very big. Last season the secondary was porous and cost UK some wins. Inconsistency by some whereas one of them (Max ? – I can’t recall his name) had timely interceptions and stood out.
Improvement in the secondary and 10 wins are possible,