Devin Leary on going up against Deone Walker: 'That's a big dude'

During practice at Kentucky, Devin Leary has a front-row seat to defensive lineman Deone Walker. Even though he doesn’t get hit much — if at all — in practice, Leary still gets a sense of what opposing quarterbacks will see this season.

“Man, that’s a big dude,” Leary told On3’s Andy Staples on Andy Staples On3. “A big dude that covers a lot of space.”

Walker officially measures in at 6-foot-6, 348 pounds as he gets ready for his sophomore season. He put up solid numbers as a freshman in 2022 as he totaled 45 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss and a sack to help anchor the Kentucky defense.

But Leary said even beyond Walker’s stature and stats, his athleticism is what stands out about his game.

“I think the coolest thing, especially competing against him every day, people don’t realize how athletic he is,” Leary said. “I mean, the dude never stops working his hands. He never stops moving towards the ball.

“I think there’s kind of a stigma around bigger guys like him that once you kind of get them into the trenches, you can’t really move that much. But that’s the exact opposite of Deone, honestly. He can disrupt many, many plays by himself. Just standing across from him at the ball is a little bit intimidating, for sure.”

Devin Leary: Deone Walker is always ‘gonna give it his all’ — from the ping-pong table to the football field

It’s not just about putting in the work on the field, though. Leary also described Walker’s competitive nature and said it goes beyond the football field. That mentality pays dividends on the field when Mark Stoops and the staff put him on the edge like they did last year.

It makes for a smooth transition to the new role, and Leary said Walker tries to improve each day.

“That’s just who he is, though. I mean, you get around the dude, everything that he does — whether it’s ping-pong in the locker room, or working one on one in practice — he’s gonna give it his all,” Leary said. “He’s going to compete with everything he does. He knows what he wants to get out of this game. I think every single day, he comes in with the right mindset of wanting to get better. It’s really fun to compete against.”

The next step in Walker’s development will be to emerge as a leader. It appears he’s doing just that through camp and heading into the season. Stoops spoke highly of him earlier this month and said he’s noticed a different demeanor from his star defender.”

“In this second season, I’m seeing him a little more vocal. I’m seeing him lead and be comfortable doing it,” Stoops said. “On the field, it’ll translate because he’s had a full offseason, he’s had the strength and conditioning.”

Walker and the Wildcats will open the 2023 season Sept. 2 against Ball State.