Deone Walker (UK Athletics)
Sometimes there’s nothing wrong with a coach admitting he is not that much different from fans.
That’s exactly what Kentucky defensive coordinator Brad White did Thursday when he was asked what he wants to see from All-American defensive lineman Deone Walker this season.
“I want to see what everybody wants to see. We want to see a dominant defensive lineman,” White said.
“We want to see a guy that can absolutely alter a game, change an offense and how they plan to attack us. And I think he’s ready to do that.”
The 345-pound Walker has already done a lot of that because he’s on numerous preseason All-American lists as well as being highly projected in early 2025 NFL mock drafts.
How can UK’s defense make the most of Walker’s talents is what White has to evaluate.
“When you’re playing 11 on 11 football, then you take the quarterback out, so now they really have 10. If he gets a one-on-one situation and he can dominate that situation, he can make plays,” White said.
“Then an offense has to start thinking, how can we alter that. They start shifting eyes and attention and it’s going to free up for other guys. He causes all kinds of issues. He can eliminate parts of the field that offenses can attack. That’s why it’s so vital for him to play at a high level.”
Kentucky’s success this season could depend heavily on how dominant the deepest, most experienced unit White has had at UK does.
“The bottom line is, you’ve got 12 games. You need your elite players to play their best. If you want to be an elite defense, those guys must show up,” White said.
And that starts with Walker.
One Response
I’m surprised that Brad White isnt a head coach somewhere. The only thing he does that infuriates me is plays a soft zone when really we need a stop. He does that so the other team runs as much clock as possible but when your have teams running plays every 15-20 seconds it destroys your momentum. We’ve probably lost 1 game every year because of playing a soft zone to eliminate so called big plays. All it does is get the other team quick first downs and gives their confidence a boost. The Clemson game and south Carolina game killed us with the soft zone. Also not putting a safety on the fake punt or field goal i cant remember which it was but we were annihilating mizzou until then. With this year’s personnel I doubt we see a soft zone. If we do remember nothing good comes of it.