Joe Marino shares thoughts on rookie Deone Walker

Jeremy asks Joe Marino breaks down what he's seen from rookie defensive tackle Deone Walker.

Transcript

00:00Joe Marino, Locked on Bills Podcast, joining us here on the Western Hotline.

00:03Joe, good morning. Jeremy and Sneaky Joe here.

00:05I asked you this question last night on the Bills Squad Show.

00:08Could it have gone any better for Deion Walker, the fourth-round pick,

00:11who came in with injury concerns and some potential red flags, but here we are.

00:16So anyway, good morning, and if you want to start there.

00:19I liked your answer last night. I think it's a good start.

00:22Yeah, good morning, guys.

00:23And yes, it's been a really, really good start for Deion Walker.

00:26Deion Walker obviously didn't have the 2024 campaign that he was looking for,

00:31and then we later find out that there's a back injury,

00:34and you're kind of wondering how is that going to impact the rookie season.

00:38And he was off the rep, entering training camp, and he's been full go.

00:42And it's been exciting to see.

00:44He's certainly come in and maximized the best parts of his game,

00:48which to me are the movement skills, obviously, for the size.

00:51And he's just got a lot of upper-body power, whether it's with his hands

00:55or just the amount of mass he has up top.

00:58And you kind of blend that together, and he's maximizing that right now

01:01to beat these blocks.

01:03And one thing that's been really consistent with Deion Walker

01:05throughout his entire football journey is that he's got a really good nose

01:08for the ball.

01:10And so it's working for him right now.

01:12I love where he's headed.

01:14And I think the next challenge for Deion is the reality of,

01:18all right, you're going up against starters now.

01:20And in the preseason, he's playing backups for the Bears, Giants, Bucs,

01:25and he made them look silly.

01:27And that's exactly what you wanted to do.

01:28But the challenge gets tougher.

01:31And obviously, I think it's really competitive when you think about the snaps

01:34behind Oliver and Jones.

01:36And I'm curious to see how Walker slots in between him and Sanders and Carter.

01:40And can those guys keep Phillips on the practice squad?

01:43It's a good little competition brew in there.

01:45And I'm excited for where Walker's trending.