Deone Walker excited about Kentucky's pass rush in 2024: "We're looking bright."

In Kentucky’s 38-35 Gator Bowl loss to No. 22 Clemson on Friday, the Wildcats recorded 13 tackles for loss and eight quarterback sacks — season-highs in both categories. Kentucky entered the postseason matchup with a modest 27 sacks on the season. But star defensive lineman Deone Walker and company stepped it up against the Tigers — even if they could have used one more sack down the stretch.

“I thought the guys did a nice job of being active up front,” Defensive coordinator Brad White said of his unit’s pass rush. “I thought for a fair amount of the game, the back-end, (Clemson) gave us some really difficult route concepts. Obviously in a bowl game when you’ve got that kind of time you can go through a year and find out all the little things that hurt, and I thought our guys did a nice job of understanding that, a fairly decent job of picking that up. We could have used just one more there in the end.”

Walker finished with two of Kentucky’s eight sacks along with eight quarterback pressures. He was constantly in the face of Clemson QB Cade Klubnik from start to finish. LB JJ Weaver added a pair of sacks himself while LB Trevin Wallace, LB D’Eryk Jackson, DB Jantzen Dunn, and DL Octavious Oxendine all got to Klubnik once, as well.

Of that group, only Wallace, who is headed to the 2024 NFL Draft, isn’t expected to return to Kentucky next season. Not to mention the several other expected returnees on the defensive line. That’s some real continuity going into the fall.

i love this team and all the experiences we had, we played our hearts out and fought til the end💙#BBN

— D1💙 (@deonewalker0) December 29, 2023

Even more help is on the way, too. The Wildcats have already added Georgia transfer LB Jamon Dumas-Johnson (a former First-Team All-American) and will bring in plenty of talented freshmen for the spring. Walker, a no-doubt future first-round NFL Draft, is excited to see what Kentucky’s pass rush looks like moving forward.

“Looking at the 2024 season, we’ve got a lot of additions,” Walker said. “We have a lot of experience. We’re looking bright with the pass rush. I love my D-line. We all work together, and you all can tell by the second half of the season we started clicking.”

With Walker committed to returning to Kentucky for a junior season, the future of the pass rush is in good hands. The 6-foot-6, 350-pound All-SEC performer has already proven himself on the field, but with every passing game, he’s proving himself off the field, as well. Head coach Mark Stoops has a bonafide leader he can rely on.

“As I have told you guys many times,” Stoops said following the Gator Bowl. “What’s probably more impressive — well, the way he plays is impressive, but the way he leads, the way he practices, the energy that he brings every day, the leadership that he shows is most critical to our program, and he’s a big piece of the continuity in the defense.”