Buffalo Bills’ second-year defensive lineman Deone Walker silenced a lot of doubters during his rookie season
Prior to being selected by Buffalo in the fourth round of the 2025 NFL Draft, the former University of Kentucky star had an up-and-down collegiate career that was marred by a pars defect—which is a small fracture between two vertebrae in the spine—that was quite debilitating for the now 22-year-old Detroit, Michigan, native
He was still quite productive, though, and at times Walker was even thought to be a potential top-10 pick by some draft analysts during his time as an undergraduate at Kentucky
But, then—somehow, some way—the one-time Cass Technical High School standout fell to the Bills at pick No. 109 in last year’s draft
Walker’s fall feels like major win for Buffalo
And, so far, it’s been a dream scenario for Buffalo while being a nightmare for the rest of the NFL, as Walker was named a member of the PFWA’s 2025 All-Rookie team last year after starting 16 of 17 games in the regular season en route to registering 39 total tackles, eight tackles for loss, four quarterback hits, and one sack
He also added 6 tackles, two pass deflections, and one interception in Buffalo’s two postseason games this past January
It was quite impressive, to say the least
Now, however, it appears as if Walker is about to emerge into one of the NFL’s next great defensive superstars, especially after he dominated against the Carolina Panthers in Buffalo’s preseason opener on Saturday, August 15
“It’s (all about) that comfortability of who you’re playing with,” Bills’ defensive lineman Deone Walker said to reporter Chris Brown on One Bills Live Friday afternoon ahead of Buffalo’s preseason game with the Cleveland Browns this weekend
“I feel like, at least for me as a young guy—and I know a lot of my teammates feel the same way—we don’t care, young or not, can you make the plays that you need to make? If it’s the young guy, then it’s the young guy. If it’s the older guy, then it’s the older guy.
“Like, no matter what, (the) film shows it all.”
Walker’s recent dominance has fans and teammates dreaming big
And, boy did it show recently against the Panthers
In just 10 snaps of action, the young behemoth defensive lineman recorded three tackles, one sack, and one tackle for loss: it was scary . . . for Carolina and quarterback Bryce Young, at least
As a whole, the Bills’ defense forced the Panthers’ starting offense to go three-and-out on its first three possessions of the game, and Walker was a major reason why
And, since the preseason opener, many people can’t help themselves from thinking about all of the possibilities to come from the 6-foot-7, 331-pound defensive lineman in his sophomore NFL season this year. Even Walker appears to be ecstatic
The reason why?
Well, not only is he excited for the shift to a 3-4 scheme under new defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard, but he’s also taken it upon himself this offseason to transform his body in order to—not only help allem a better chance to stay on the field more often
Once listed at upwards of 345 pounds during his time as a Wildcat in college, Walker has trimmed down this training camp for the Bills in hopes of wreaking even more havoc in Western New York this fall and winter
Young DL’s body transformation noticeable in training camp
“I feel good, you know? (But), how do I look? Do I look good?” Walker jokingly continued in his most recent interview
“It’s been great, you know? I feel way lighter . . . just trying to—what’s something else that I can do to help the team—you know? One of my big things (to work on) was wanting to be a three-down player. I want to be out there with Ed. I want to be out there with T.J. (on) those third-and-long situations
“So, what can I do to better put myself into a position where they can’t tell me no, you know? So, (I’m) just going (into) every day trying to work.”
Thus far in training camp, it’s clear that he’s well on his way to doing so
However, at this moment it’s unclear whether or not Walker and the rest of the defense will see much more action for the remainder of this preseason as first-year head coach Joe Brady has seemingly chosen to keep many of his plans close to the vest this summer
But—even if they don’t—regardless of any downfalls from last year’s defense, the former all-rookie team member believes that this season will be special for him and his teammates on that side of the ball
He’s certainly put in the work individually, and Walker’s ready to see it all come to fruition on the field starting this fall
Bills, Walker eager to get to Week 1 in Houston
“It’s just football. At the end of the day, we know how to play football. Let’s go out there, have fun, and play,” Walker added
“One thing, for us as a defensive line—d-line (and) OLBs—is (limiting) the penalties: the offsides, (and) the, you know, just those little ticky-tacky things that knock us off our game. (It’s about) just mitigating those. So, that’s our biggest thing. And, us just playing dominant as a whole group, you know? Our whole defensive front five, front four—whatever we’re in—just us dominating.
“We want to be able to take the game over with just us.”
If that were to happen, it could only mean good things for Buffalo this season.
We’ll soon find out what’s in store from Walker and Co., though, as the Bills’ season opener against the Houston Texans at Reliant Stadium on Sunday, September 13, is just three weeks away
It won’t be long now, Bills Mafia
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JOHN GREEN
John W. Green is a contributor for Bills ON SI after previously working for USA TODAY Sports Media Group’s Bills Wire, as well as the Buffalo FAMbase blog. He is a former sports reporter for the Press-Republican daily newspaper in New York’s Champlain Valley covering local high school, collegiate, and semi-professional sports for three counties. A former associate sports editor for SUNY Plattsburgh’s student-run newspaper, Cardinal Points, which was inducted into the Associated Collegiate Press H.O.F. in 2010, John covered the school’s 2014 D-III NCAA national champion women’s hockey team. John is also the editor of BILLieve in Buffalo on Medium.com. He has a bachelor’s degree in newspaper and multimedia journalism from SUNY Plattsburgh.
