Deone Walker’s start to his sophomore season is turning heads, and one of the league’s top pass rushers has already taken notice.
The Bills landed a real steal when they grabbed Walker in the fourth round of last year’s NFL Draft out of Kentucky. His stock had slipped because of a back injury that followed him through the 2024 college season, but the tape from 2023 told a much bigger story. That year at Kentucky, Walker piled up 55 total tackles, 7.5 sacks and 12.5 tackles for loss, production that had him in the first-round conversation.
Since arriving in Buffalo, he’s looked every bit like a player who belonged much higher on draft boards. Walker was impressive down the stretch last season, finishing with 39 total tackles, four pass deflections and an interception against the Denver Broncos in the Divisional Round. He’s carried that momentum right into 2026.
Through the Bills’ first two games, Walker has been a force in the middle against both the Texans and the Lions. He’s been collapsing pockets with power, slipping past blockers with quickness and consistently making life miserable for quarterbacks inside.
In Week 1 against Houston, he delivered one of the game’s biggest plays late in the fourth quarter, sacking C.J. Stroud to help push the Texans away from the end zone before Greg Rousseau finished the job with a strip-sack in Buffalo’s win. Walker ended that game with 6 total tackles.
Against Detroit on Thursday, the box score didn’t tell the whole story. He had only one tackle, but he also logged 3 pass deflections and 3 QB hits on Jared Goff.
That kind of start was enough to catch the eye of Micah Parsons. Rookie Watch on X (@RookieWatxh) highlighted Walker and said an NFL scout described him as a "hybrid" of Chris Jones from the Chiefs and Jordan Davis of the Eagles. Parsons reposted it and added three fire emojis.
Walker is still early in his career, but he already looks like a major piece of Buffalo’s defense. The Bills have him under his rookie contract through the 2028 season, giving them this year and the next two on a cheap deal. If he keeps playing like this, the extension conversation probably won’t wait long after the 2027 season.
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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 🡒]
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Bills 2-0 Start Is Hiding A Defensive Issue Jim Leonhard Sees
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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 🡒]