Bucs OLB David Walker finally gets on the field on defense last week, and gets his first sack.
Finally, the hype was realized. If only for a day.
Since underwear football began this past offseason, Joe had heard over and over David Walker was the second coming. Joe had heard similar prognostications about Chris Braswell who was truly a stiff.
As a result, Joe was very much in the seeing-is-believing mode.
Walker looked good in practice during training camp — but so did Braswell. So either Braswell had taken the proverbial next step, or Walker was the next Braswell.
Uh, oh.
And in Week 1, with the Bucs displaying their typical invisible pass rush, largely because the edge rushers have to do other things, Walker didn’t log a single snap on defense.
Now, wait a minute! You’re facing Joe Burrow, one of the better dropback quarterbacks in the league and Walker is supposed to be the next J.J. Watt and you don’t bring him in for one friggin’ snap?
Thankfully for Walker, he was used on defense last week in Week 2 and whaddya know, he got a sack! And naturally KitKat-eating Bucs coach Todd Bowles tried to downplay it this week.
> “I mean, the sack was great. He’s got some things he’s got to learn, fundamentally, from a defensive standpoint, but he’s come along at a pretty good pace for us.”
Not good enough, apparently.
But as frustrated as Joe is that maybe the Bucs do have a guy who can get some valuable sacks but the Bucs aren’t using him, or don’t trust him, Joe couldn’t help but see how much that sack meant to Walker, who as a rookie, blew out a knee on one of the final snaps of the first padded practice in 2025.
“It felt good!” Walker beamed when recounting his sack of weirdo Cleveland quarterback Deshaun Watson.
Walker told Joe how rough last year was for him. One padded practice and his season was over.
> “Getting hurt last year and not being able to help the team out was kind of hard,” Walker said.
It was Walker’s second operation on the same knee. In high school, he blew out his ACL too.
Walker admitted he had a good group of supporters with both his family and the church he attends back in Arkansas. So they helped keep his spirits high. As a result, Walker dove into his rehab and fueled by his faith, found the light at the end of the tunnel.
That light was this season.
> “Man, I leaned into my faith and tried to just work hard to get back to be able to play,” Walker said. “This year, I was able to get in. And I got a chance to showcase what type of player that I am to help the team at any cost.”
And Walker, from a small school, Central Arkansas, demonstrated he can hang in the NFL.
> “Yeah, \[the sack\] it was a big confidence booster,” Walker said. “It showed that I can compete with some of the best in the world.”
And with the Bucs having their backs against the wall today, with their season teetering on the brink, if the Bucs really do think he can put the quarterback on the ground, there is no responsible reason to not give him snaps on defense today.