Through six games, Kentucky football has consistently showed off a defense capable of slowing down even the top offenses of the SEC. They held the Georgia Bulldogs to 13 points, and Ole Miss to 17 as examples. Defensive lineman Deone Walker has been a key part of that.
On Wednesday, ESPN released its list of the top 25 players in college football at the mid-way point of the year. Walker is on the list, coming in at number 21.
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Here’s what they had to say about the big Wildcats defender:
The most mundane part of the box score is the most revealing when looking for signs of Walker’s dominance. He’s certainly got his disruptive side — he made 17.5 tackles at or behind the line in 2023, and he has nine career sacks, too. That’s pretty good for a guy whose main job, at 6-foot-6 and 345 pounds, is to occupy blockers and eat space in the middle of the line. But you know what’s just about unheard of for a guy that size? Through the first five games, Walker was also second on the team in tackles. He made a tackle on 12.1% of his snaps. That’s a linebacker’s average! In fact, UK linebacker Jamon Dumas-Johnson was at only 10.0% in the same period. Walker is a 345-pounder making plays from sideline to sideline. That’s not normal.
Walker is considered by many analysts to be a future first round draft pick, and potential impact player at the next level. His combination of size and burst can’t be taught, and has certainly got him plenty of attention.
The rest of the season still has to play out, but so far, Walker is doing pretty well, and according to ESPN, is one of the nation’s best players.