Three Wildcats named to SEC All-Freshman Team

Stop me if you’ve heard this before: Kentucky‘s got some young talent making plays on the football field.

After a standout regular season for the Wildcats, three newcomers were named to the Southeastern Conference All-Freshman Team, the league office announced Thursday. Barion Brown earned the honor as a wide receiver, all-purpose player and return specialist, while Jager Burton was one of four offensive linemen on the team. Deone Walker also earned a spot as a defensive lineman.  

Brown, a 6-foot-1, 166-pounder from Nashville, led the Wildcats this season with 45 catches for 604 yards and four scores, averaging 13.4 yards per catch.  His four touchdowns receiving are the second-most by a freshman in school history, behind only teammate Dane Key’s record of six. He also led the team in kick return yardage with 15 returns for 424 yards and one score, averaging 28.3 yards per return. He ranked fifth in the SEC in receiving yards per game (50.33) and was eighth in receptions per game (3.75). 

He earned SEC Player of the Week honors three times, once as SEC Special Teams Player of the Week and twice as SEC Co-Freshman of the Week, becoming the first Wildcat to win a SEC weekly award three times in a single season since Lynn Bowden Jr. in 2019. He also was named to the 2022 PFF College All-True Freshman Team and was a College Football News Third-Team All-American. 

Burton, a 6-4, 301-pound Lexington, Kentucky native, started all 12 games at left guard and helped running back Chris Rodriguez Jr. average 113.0 rushing yards per game. Burton became the first UK freshman offensive lineman to start all 12 games since Zach West in 2012 and he is the first Wildcat offensive linemen to earn Freshman All-SEC honors since Logan Stenberg in 2016.  In 12 games, he played 803 snaps and had 25 knockdowns. 

Postseason honors continue to roll in for Walker, a 6-6, 330-pounder from Detroit. He finished the regular season with 39 total tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, one sack, five quarterback hurries, two pass breakups and one forced fumble. He has been named to the Pro Football Focus True Freshman All-America Team, the College Football News All-America First Team and was recently named the SEC Co-Defensive Lineman of the Week on Nov. 28 for his role in UK’s 26-13 win over intrastate rival Louisville. 

Additionally, Walker was a Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year Award semifinalist and a Midseason True Freshman All-American by several outlets, including The Athletic, 247 Sports, On3.com and College Football News. 

 The Wildcats are headed to Nashville to take on Iowa in the TransPerfect Music City Bowl on New Year’s Eve. The game will kick off at noon ET (11 a.m. Central time in Nashville) at Nissan Stadium in a game that will be nationally televised by ABC.