The Buffalo Bills already have Josh Allen driving the spotlight on offense. Through two games, Deone Walker has started making sure the other side of the ball gets its share, too.
The second-year defensive lineman was a wrecking ball in Buffalo’s 41-31 win over the Detroit Lions on Thursday Night Football. In a primetime game on Prime Video, the 22-year-old put together a stat line that jumped off the page: one sack, seven pressures, three quarterback hits and three deflected passes.
That kind of impact did not come out of nowhere for Bills fans, who already had a front-row seat to his rise after an impressive rookie season. But the national reaction after the Lions game made it clear Walker’s profile is growing fast.
ESPN’s Chris Canty made it plain when his co-host compared Walker to the former NFL lineman.
“He looks better than me, man,” Canty said. “The guy is playing his a-- off.
He looks really good. I’m just saying every time you watch that Bills defensive unit on the field, he flashes.
Every single time.”
Other voices across the NFL media landscape piled on the praise. Domonique Foxworth posted, “How come I didnt know Deone Walker is the best D-lineman in the whole damn league?”
Louis Riddick went even bigger, writing, “Deone Walker going to be named All Pro this year. So good.”
And Ross Tucker’s takeaway was simple: “Deone Walker is going to make SO MUCH $”
Walker’s 2026 debut in front of a national audience could hardly have gone better. It is only two games into the season, but the former fourth-round pick is already looking like a player who belongs in the league’s brightest conversations.
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Bills Win Got Overshadowed By A Pregame Criticism Fans Will Debate
The Bills 41-31 win over the Lions at Highmark Stadium should have been the main talking point from Week 2, but a pregame gripe from Breiden Fehoko ended up pulling plenty of attention its own way. Before kickoff, Fehoko vented on Twitter about the Canadian national anthem being played, turning a routine bit of pregame ceremony into an unexpectedly noisy side story around a game Buffalo handled on the field.
Buffalos offense did its part to keep the focus on football, and the result only added to a strong early-season start for a team that still has plenty of bigger goals ahead. Even so, the debate around Fehokos comments is the kind of off-field flashpoint that lingers after a win, especially with the Bills moving on to a stretch that includes Joe Burrows Bengals and more chances for the conversation to shift back to what happens between the lines. [Read more 🡒]
Bills Win Just Sparked A Brutal Debate About Dan Campbell
The Lions 41-31 loss to the Bills in Week 2 did more than hand Buffalo another win. It also reopened a familiar conversation around Dan Campbell, with analyst Emmanuel Acho questioning how Detroit looks when it has to keep moving without former offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, who left after the 2025 season to coach the Bears.
For a team that has spent the past few years building an identity under Campbell, the timing of the criticism matters. Detroit now gets a quick chance to reset at Ford Field against the Jets in Week 3, and the pressure is only growing to show that the offense can still function at a high level even with Johnson no longer on the sideline. [Read more 🡒]
Bills 2-0 Start Is Hiding A Defensive Issue Jim Leonhard Sees
The Bills are 2-0 and the early conversation around Buffalo has centered on Josh Allen and an offense that has looked every bit like the engine of a contender. But inside the building, there is already a quieter concern taking shape on the other side of the ball, where a defense working under new playcaller Jim Leonhard has not yet found the same rhythm.
Leonhard has been blunt about the problem, describing the unit as boom or bust after stretches that have mixed impact plays with too many lapses. The growing pains are not unexpected with a new voice in charge, but the Bills also know the margin for error narrows quickly if the defense keeps giving away yards, points and avoidable penalties while trying to settle in. [Read more 🡒]