Deone Walker named Preseason All-American by ESPN and The Athletic

ESPN revealed its 2024 Preseason All-America Team on Wednesday, less than two weeks shy of the kickoff to the college football season. Of the 26 first-team spots, half of the selections came from the Southeastern Conference. Among them is Deone Walker from the University of Kentucky, one of the Worldwide Leader’s two first-team defensive tackles on its preseason list.

Read how senior college football writer Chris Low explained the Walker pick:

DT: Deone Walker, Kentucky

The 6-6, 348-pound Walker is a Big Blue mountain in the middle of Kentucky’s defensive line. He was a first-team All-SEC selection a year ago as a sophomore and will be among the most coveted interior defensive linemen in the 2025 NFL draft. Despite battling constant double-teams, Walker led the Wildcats with 12.5 tackles for loss, including 7.5 sacks. For a man his size, he’s a remarkable athlete and ran the 100 meters in high school.

ESPN.com

Five other first-team selections are on Kentucky’s 2024 schedule, three of whom will stand across the line of scrimmage from big Deone:

QB: Carson Beck, Georgia
OG: Tate Rutledge, Georgia
OT: Kelvin Banks Jr., Texas
DE: James Pearce, Jr., Tennessee
S: Malaki Starks, Georgia

[ESPN’s 2024 college football preseason All-America team]

The Athletic’s Top 50 Players To Know

The Athletic also gave Deone Walker some Wednesday morning love in its College football preseason All-America teams: 50 of the best players to know in 2024. Again, Walker is one of two first-team defensive tackle selections, described as a “twitchy grizzly bear” on the Wildcats’ defensive line.

DT Deone Walker, Kentucky: Defensive tackles can sometimes be hard to judge by stats, especially those who are listed at 6-6, 345 pounds and often asked to help occupy blockers in the middle of the line. Walker, however, does it all: As a sophomore, he racked up 55 tackles, 12.5 tackles for loss, 7.5 sacks and two pass breakups while also leading all defensive tackles with 51 pressures, per PFF. Brugler summarized Walker as a “twitchy grizzly bear” when singing his praises as one of the top defensive tackle prospects for the 2025 draft.

NYTimes.com/The Athletic

Barion Brown named to The Athletic’s Second Team

Joining Walker on The Athletic’s preseason All-America list, Kentucky’s Barion Brown earned a nod as the second-team all-purpose player. Colorado’s Travis Hunter claimed the first-team all-purpose spot for his two-way work in Boulder.

[College football preseason All-America teams: 50 of the best players to know in 2024]