If there’s any team that deserves to catch a break when it comes to drafting an edge rusher, it’s probably the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The last player Tampa Bay drafted on the defensive front who cracked the Top 10 on the franchise’s career sacks list was defensive tackle Gerald McCoy, the No. 3 overall pick in the 2010 NFL draft.
McCoy, a 6-time Pro Bowler and NFL All-Pro, played 9 seasons for the Buccaneers and had 54.5 career sacks — No. 4 on the career list.
Rookie David Walker might end up being the one who ends all that misery, with the fourth round pick (No. 121 overall) drawing early raves. Bleacher Report’s Brent Sobleski put him on his early list of the NFL’s “Biggest Draft Steals” on June 1 following the start of Organized Team Activities (OTAs).
“The Bucs employ one of the game’s most aggressive defenses,” Sobleski wrote on June 1. “They have two viable edge defenders already on the roster in Haason Reddick and Yaya Diaby. However, Walker has a chance to immediately move up the depth chart if he’s able to take what he’s done during organized team activities into training camp when the pads are on and he faces Tampa’s talented offensive tackles.”
Pewter Report’s Scott Reynolds compared Walker, 6-foot-1 and 263 pounds, to a Marvel superhero after watching him in OTAs. Others in attendance compared Walker to 2008 NFL Defensive Player of the Year and former Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison.
“I’ve got a new nickname to bestow on a Bucs player,” Reynolds wrote on May 30. “I’m going to be calling rookie outside linebacker David Walker ‘Nightcrawler’ because of his ability to teleport into the backfield.”
Walker’s Unique Path to Realizing NFL Dream
Walker isn’t your typical NFL rookie — he turns 25 years old on June 3.
The Stuttgart, Arkansas, native started his college football career at NCAA Division II Southern Arkansas in 2020 and saw his first season wiped out because of the pandemic. Walker responded with 52 tackles, 19.5 TFL and 8.0 sacks in 2021 before he transferred to FCS Central Arkansas.
With the Bears, Walker racked up 191 tackles and 31.0 sacks over his final 3 seasons and was a 3-time All-American . He closed out his career by winning the Buck Buchanan Award as the nation’s top FCS defensive Player in 2024, with 68 tackles and 10.5 sacks.
“His production, not only sacks but TFLs and tackles, the guy was just dominant on that level of competition,” Buccaneers Vice President of Player Personnel Mike Biehl told Buccaneers.com’s Scott Smith following Walker’s selection. “Sometimes you worry about the lower level of competition, but he goes to the Senior Bowl and he was dominant there too, going against some of the best linemen in the country. He plays so dang hard; that’s just going to be part of his calling card, too, which we love.”
Displacing Reddick or Diaby, who led Tampa Bay with 7.5 sacks as a rookie in 2023, won’t be an easy task. It also shouldn’t be the goal for Walker to begin with.
If the Buccaneers are truly going to thrive on defense, having 3 edge rushers who all get close to the same amount of reps needs to be part of the equation — especially considering Reddick will turn 31 years old in September.
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