To say the Bills are a work in progress on defense would be an understatement. They have allowed 62 points through two games, and it hasn’t really mattered because the offense has been that great. That's the beauty of having a transcendent player on offense. They can cover up a lot of mistakes by the rest of the team.
But if the Bills are finally going to get over the hump and make it back to the Super Bowl, they are going to need their defense to take some big steps forward. They've gotten a few timely stops over the first two weeks, but allowing 31 points per game just isn't going to cut it.
The quickest way to accomplish that would be for several young players to dramatically improve. The good news is that one player is already doing that, as he is on his way to stardom. And his name is none other than Deone Walker.
Deone Walker is turning into the real deal in Buffalo
In a recent article by Gordon McGuinness of Pro Football Focus, he wrote about the top performers on offense and defense from Week 2. Believe it or not, that list included not one, but two Buffalo defensive linemen, including Gregory Rousseau, who recorded two sacks for the second consecutive week.
But the bigger (literally) takeaway from Buffalo’s Week 2 was just how dominant Deone Walker was against Detroit. Not only was he the best defensive player on the field, but he was named PFF’s top defensive player of Week 2. Here is what the site had to say about the second-year defender from Kentucky:
Walker has blossomed in his second NFL season and was outright unblockable in the Bills’ win over the Detroit Lions on Thursday Night Football. He produced a 17.9% PFF pass-rush win rate, racking up two quarterback hits and five hurries while also batting three passes at the line of scrimmage.
It’s worth pointing out that Walker posted this performance despite his running mate, Ed Oliver, being scratched just minutes before the kickoff. That meant that Walker saw even more attention from Detroit’s offensive line and simply didn’t matter.
The hope is that Oliver is able to return to the field in the next few weeks and give Buffalo one of the league’s best interior duos. But even if that doesn’t happen, Walker has proven that he can make enough splash plays for the defense to get by.
There are still some ways Walker can improve, including fixing his pad level, which will always be a natural issue given his height. It would also help if Walker improved his conditioning so that he can stay on the field for more snaps. But even with those issues/concerns, Walker has proven to be an impact player that the Bills have desperately missed on their defensive line.
If Walker, along with Ed Oliver, T.J. Parker, Bradley Chubb, and Gregory Rousseau, can all stay healthy, there is no reason why this defense shouldn’t improve dramatically as the season goes along. Walker is the type of force multiplier that the Bills have needed in their defense this decade and the sky is the limit for him in this defense.
Add us as a preferred source on Google