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Orchard Park, N.Y. — When ESPN’s Ben Solak saw what Deone Walker did against a Kansas City Chiefs All-Pro last week, he posted the video with a quick observation: “Man. Don’t see Creed Humphrey tossed like that often.” The play he’s referencing came in last week’s Buffalo Bills win over the Chiefs. The Bills were up two scores in the fourth quarter, and the Chiefs were about to score at the Bills’ 2-yard line. Humphrey lined up across from Walker on the play and attempted to drive him backwards to open a hole for Chiefs running back Kareem Hunt. Instead, Walker, a 21-year-old rookie, stood his ground before grabbing Humphrey and throwing him to the side, before crashing down on Hunt for the tackle. The Chiefs went in for a touchdown on the next play, but that’s the last time they scored in a game where the Bills’ defensive line dominated. Edge rushers Joey Bosa and Greg Rousseau combined for an eye-popping 17 quarterback pressures. But on the inside, Walker helped lead the Bills’ attack - especially against the run. The Chiefs rushed for a season-low 79 yards against the Bills. Walker has the most run stops (14) of any Bills interior linemen this season and has steadily climbed the depth chart in the wake of an injury barrage to his position room. Opening day starters Ed Oliver and DaQuan Jones were both out against the Chiefs. Oliver may miss the rest of the regular season at least with a torn bicep, and Jones has missed the last three games with a calf injury. Bills veteran tackle Jordan Phillips has taken notice of Walker, a fourth-round draft pick who wasn’t expected to be such a factor when general manager Brandon Beane landed him in April. Walker dealt with a back injury last season, and his draft stock took a significant hit. When the Bills opened their offseason program, Walker was on a special ramp-up plan that included intensive core workouts to get his back and body ready for the NFL grind. Walker leads all Bills tackles with 241 snaps (51%) in his first eight games. Phillips thinks Walker is the real deal. “Deone is, I’m gonna go ahead and say this now because I don’t think he’s been getting enough recognition for, I think Deone is the Defensive Rookie of the Year so far,” Phillips said. “I wanna say he’s like top five in TFLs across the league. He’s playing really well, he’s a hard worker, and when he gets out there, people notice. Like, he’s a big guy, but he’s athletic, he can run, he’s powerful. He’s everything you want in a nose tackle.” Phillips knows ball. Only two defensive tackles in the NFL have more tackles for loss than Walker’s 7: Indianapolis Colts tackle DeForest Buckner (9) and Tennessee Titans tackle Jeffery Simmons (8). The Athletic’s draft analyst Dane Brugler released his mid-season All-Rookie Team and had Walker as the top tackle in this year’s class through nine weeks. “Walker has looked like a steal,” Brugler wrote. “Not only has he proved himself as a viable starter, but he is commanding double teams and helping create congestion on the line of scrimmage (go watch some of his goal-line snaps versus the Chiefs from Sunday). Time will tell if he can continue playing at this level, but he has changed the narrative around him.” Walker didn’t want to focus on all the praise that’s been heaped on him for the way he’s played this season when he spoke to reporters on Wednesday. Instead, he focused on some of the areas he’s still looking to improve. Bills coach Sean McDermott said recently he’s seen some good things from the rookie, but that consistency is still something he’d like more of from Walker. “I need to do better with my gap integrity, shedding blocks, winning or getting off of every block,” Walker said. “Running to the ball. I am playing a lot more snaps than last season. Just getting extra conditioning, getting in the sauna, especially this week.” The Bills travel down to Miami this weekend for their second matchup against the Dolphins. Miami has one of the most dangerous running backs in the NFL in De’Von Achane and Walker knows that the Dolphins are a heavy outside zone run team. Against zone runs in 2025, the Bills’ defense ranks 31st out of 32 teams, allowing 5.5 yards per run, according to Sumer Sports. “We’re just gonna have to try and stay in our gap because 28 is going to try and hit every gap that he can,” Walker said. “He’s gonna try to poke and prod at the defense to see where he can get it and where he can’t.” Bills left tackle Dion Dawkins has watched Walker—he’s hard to miss because of his size, Dawkins said. But what’s stood out the most to the Bills Pro Bowl tackle is Walker’s willingness to stay on the field. “He’s humungous,” Dawkins said. “He’s playing well. I think, he kind of shocked me, the way that he can move. He plays with a lot of effort and he’s growing into an NFL player very fast. He’s helping our team win. He’s out there, he’s consistently out there and not just tapping his head and coming out. He’s a big boy and he’s taking rep after rep after rep and we appreciate it.” Walker has embraced his role, and he doesn’t feel any additional pressure to perform because of who’s in or out of the lineup. He’s too busy enjoying the game. “I love football. Football is my first love,” he said. “I feel like just me going out there playing, it doesn’t feel like a job, like I got all these stresses, I got this big weight on my shoulders. … It feels like little league football still, just, we’re grown.”
