First Down Kentucky: An Insane Deone Walker Stat

Deone Walker is a game-changing defensive lineman. You can feel it when you watch him play. The downside is that it’s not always clearly visible in the stat sheet. It’s the nature of his position as an interior defensive lineman.

There are still ways we can measure the Big Fella’s success. A year after leading the team in sacks and tackles for loss, he’s trailing his teammates with .5 sacks and 2.0 TFLs so far this season. The raw stats aren’t kind to Deone, but he’s helping his teammates out quite a bit. According to PFF, he leads the team with 11 pressures and nine quarterback hurries.

What’s even more extraordinary is just how much football he has played for the Wildcats. At 6-foot-5 and nearly 350 pounds, he ranks third on the defense with 212 snaps out of a possible 254 — 83.4% of the time — and most of the plays he missed were against G5 foes. Walker has only missed 13 defensive snaps in three SEC games. That is unheard of for a defensive lineman his size in modern football.

Deone Walker spent all offseason putting in extra work to condition himself to play as many impactful snaps as possible for the Wildcats. Through five games, he’s done just that and it’s a big reason why Kentucky has one of the best defenses in the SEC.

Nicholas Smith is Locked In with Kentucky

The KSR Football Recruiting Department was taken aback when we heard that Nicholas Smith received a scholarship offer from Alabama just days after they gutted out a win over Georgia. During every recruiting cycle, there are a few commits that receive extra attention from other schools later in the process that Kentucky must work to hold on for a signature in December. The low three-star prospect does not fit that typical profile.

Jacob Polacheck caught up with Smith after he received the eye-opening offer for KSR+. Although intriguing, the defensive lineman says he has no intentions of visiting Alabama. He’s all in on the team that gave him a chance, Kentucky.

“No, I will not be going to Alabama,” Smith said. “I will not be decommitting. I’ll be at Kentucky. I’m going to make a promise. If I say I’m going to do something, I’m going to do it. That’s what I’m going to do.”

There’s more great content like this shared every day on KSR+. Take advantage of our FLASH SALE and continue the conversation on KSBoard, the KSR Message Board. Use the promo code BBN for 50% off the annual price.

Bye Week Kentucky Football Ticket Deal

UK Athletics is celebrating the Bye Week by making it a BUY Week. Tickets have been reduced to as little as $35 to see the Wildcats in action at Kroger Field against Vanderbilt and only $25 for the Murray State game. Hop on this opportunity now before the sale expires Friday night at midnight.

Andru Phillips has been one of the best Rookies in the NFL

The former Kentucky cornerback has been exceptional for the New York Giants. Despite missing week four with a calf injury, Andru Phillips is the third-highest-graded rookie in the NFL this season, according to PFF. In 49 coverage snaps this season, he’s only allowed 28 yards. It’s unclear how much longer Phillips will be sidelined by the injury.

Prepare for 55 Straight Days of Football

Our long national nightmare is over. Today is the last day we will not have football on TV until Nov. 27. That’s 55 straight days where you can watch football. Glorious.

The streak begins thanks to C-USA. The league decided last year to take a page from the MAC and play multiple league games on Tuesday and Wednesday nights in October, providing early-week football appetizers until MACtion begins in November. Liberty and FIU have the honor of opening up C-USA weeknights next Tuesday in Lynchburg. Prepare accordingly.