4-star DL Deone Walker signs with Kentucky

It is officially signing day across college football and the Kentucky Wildcats are expecting to sign one of the best classes in program history.

Their historic 2022 recruiting class just got better, as 4-star defensive tackle Deone Walker has announced he is committed to Kentucky. The school has since announced his signing.

Walker is currently ranked as the No. 26 overall defensive tackle in the nation and is the No. 3 player from the state of Michigan, according to the 247 Sports Composite Rankings, which measures all of the major recruiting rankings. His highest ranking is No. 202 overall by 247.

The 6-foot-6, 350-pound Walker took official visits to Missouri, Georgia, Michigan, and Kentucky. Ultimately, he decided to bring his talents to Lexington.

Mark Stoops and his staff have really started to have a lot of recruiting success in the state of Michigan as they have signed linebacker DeAndre Square, nose guard Marquan McCall, defensive tackle Justin Rogers, and defensive back Maxwell Hairston in recent years.

Here is the scouting report on Walker from national recruiting analyst Allen Trieu who projects Walker to be a future 4^th-7^th round pick with a pro comparison to Javon Kinlaw of the San Francisco 49ers.

“Massive prospect who could be a defensive lineman or offensive tackle in college. On defense, he can play nose or maybe be an end in an odd front. For his size, he shows agility not many that big have. Can change directions and has a good spin move. Does a decent job with his hands in disengaging but can still get more violent there. Would like to see him play at a lower weight, which would enhance his movement skills. But he is light on his feet and gets off the ball quickly for how big he is. Less experienced as an offensive tackle but has upside there. Senior year showed more of what he could do on offense and showed his conditioning with having to go both ways. Still has developmental work to do and can be more consistent but ceiling is very high.”

The addition of Walker now gives the Wildcats 19 commitments for the class of 2022, and they now hold the No. 11 overall class in the nation.

Kentucky has also received a commitment from Auburn offensive line transfer Tashawn Manning, and they are expected to be in the mix for several other players in the transfer portal this offseason.

The football future is bright in Lexington.

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