Maxwell Hairston, Deone Walker named top 100 players in college football

The preseason honors keep rolling in as the 2024 college football season inches closer. A week from Saturday, we will be watching Georgia Tech and Florida State playing an ACC football game in Ireland. The long wait is almost over, but Kentucky has built a roster with some legitimate star power this offseason.

Two former high school signees were named top 100 players by ESPN on Thursday morning. The four-letter network used a panel of experts and went through a multi-round voting process to determine the best players in college football. Kentucky had two players appear on the list.

21.) Deone Walker

The 6-6, 348-pound junior has started 24 straight games. Despite frequent double teams, Walker led the Wildcats with 12.5 tackles for loss last season and finished eighth in the SEC with 7.5 sacks. He was a first-team All-SEC selection by the AP and is equally disruptive against both the run and pass.

ESPN

84.) Maxwell Hairston

The junior from Michigan was ranked outside the top 100 cornerback prospects when he signed with the Wildcats in 2021. Last season, he led the SEC and ranked fifth nationally with five interceptions.

ESPN

Expectations are high for Kentucky’s defense due mostly to some of the top-end star power. Adding players from the transfer portal has been a key roster-building tool but the recruit-and-develop high school model is still the best way to find and keep stars in your program for multiple years. Hairston and Walker are both examples of that.

Marques Cox, Jamon “Pop” Dumas-Johnson, D’Eryk Jackson, Barion Brown, and Dane Key did not make the list. However, each is expected to make a push for All-SEC honors this fall.

Football time in the Bluegrass is right around the corner.

Top 100 players on Kentucky’s schedule

1.) James Pearce Jr. (EDGE, Tennessee)

7.) Carson Beck (QB, Georgia)

9.) Kelvin Banks Jr. (T, Texas)

10.) Malaki Starks (S, Georgia)

17.) Tate Ratledge (iOL, Georgia)

23.) Quinn Ewers (QB, Texas)

30.) Mykel Williams (EDGE, Georgia)

38.) Tre Harris (WR, Ole Miss)

39.) Ashton Gillotte (EDGE, Louisville)

41.) Jaxson Dart (QB, Ole Miss)

49.) Trey Moore (EDGE, Texas)

61.) Princely Umanmielen (EDGE, Ole Miss)

64.) Anthony Hill Jr. (LB, Texas)

67.) Jalon Walker (LB, Georgia)

83.) Trevor Etienne (RB, Georgia)

86.) Isaiah Bond (WR, Texas)

90.) Quincy Riley (CB, Louisville)

92.) Nico Iamaleava (QB, Tennessee)