October 24th, 2026
David Walker wraps up Steelers drama queen quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
It’s about to boil over.
Joe is outraged. Fans are angry. Former Bucs players are frustrated. National NFL analysts are confused.
Why isn’t outside linebacker David Walker on the field more?
You’d think the defensive coordinator/head coach of a 1-5 team that is 3-12 since last year’s bye week who is also under siege with fans at full throat for his head on a platter, would want his best players on the field most of the time.
You know, players that consistently make an impact? If for no other reason than to maybe save his career?
Well, if you think that, you don’t know KitKat-eating Bucs coach Todd Bowles. For reasons only he knows, Bowles has been rigidly resistant, if not hostile, to the concept of getting Walker on the field of play.
Through six games, Walker has but two more snaps (99) than a career backup, Anthony Nelson (97). This, despite the fact Walker has four times as many sacks as anyone else on the roster.
Four times!
Walker has four sacks in six games without starting once.
And the stat-geeky numbers back up that Walker’s not a fluke
He has the best pass-rush win-rate in the NFL (26.0 percent). He also has the best sack rate in the NFL (7.0 percent).
Now we all know Bowles thinks sacks are irrelevant if not trivial. He’s all about stopping the run. Well, Walker has the second-best run-stop rate in the NFL!
So Bowles can’t say Walker isn’t doing the all-important “other things” Bowles always covets.
Either Bowles is trying to tank and get fired and jettisoned off into retirement, or he’s guilty of coaching malpractice; that’s all there is to it!
After last week’s overtime loss to the Steelers, a game in which Walker had two sacks — double what any of his teammates have done this season — you wouldn’t know Walker is frustrated in the least bit about not having more playing time.
Walker is happy as can be that he’s contributing, even though it is not (yet) showing up in the win column.
“Man, I am just excited when the coaches put me in,” Walker told Joe. “I just try to make the plays as they come to me. Just doing what I am supposed to do.”
In other words, Walker is being the good soldier.
And a good teammate. In the same loss to the Steelers, Rueben Bain, Al-Quadin Muhammad and Keionte Scott each had their first sacks of the season, and for the Bucs. For Bain and Scott, it was their first NFL sacks.
Walker seemed happier for them than he was for getting a pair of sacks.
“Yeah man, it is a confidence booster,” Walker said of his teammates joining the sack parade. “Especially Bain getting his first sack in the NFL — many more to come. Muhammad, finally getting one here in Tampa.
“It is exciting to see that the guys are doing what they were brought here to do. It has been fun.
“Every day, we are talking, who is going to get the next one? Who is going to get the first one?”
Meanwhile, Bucs fans are wondering when the hell the head coach is going to wake up from his other things-coma and start Walker. Just yesterday he muttered to reporters how badly he and the Bucs need a win.
Todd, a little free advice: You increase your chances to win games when you play your best players. Trust Joe, it helps.
And it may help you keep your job and save your career, if it is not too late.