INTRO: There was a lot of buzz about Bucs rookie pass rusher David Walker last year before he tore his ACL early in training camp. How much would Walker have helped Tampa Bay’s struggling pass rush in 2025? Would he have become a starter and replaced Haason Reddick, who was a disappointment last season? Because he was on injured reserve, Walker became the ultimate case of “what could have been” – and a bit of a myth as a result.

This week, I had a chance to speak to Walker about his recovery, what he learned during his year off the gridiron and how he’ll impact Tampa Bay’s pass rush this season. And I take a look at how the Bucs need to revamp their outside linebacker room this offseason in a new SR’s FAB 5. Enjoy!

FAB 1. The Myth Of David Walker

Just imagine if the Bucs had David Walker, an outside linebacker the team believes can be a pass rushing phenom, on the field last year.

Walker, the team’s fourth-round draft pick in 2025, dazzled at rookie mini-camp and was the best player on the field. He was making even more of an amazing initial impression than first-round wide receiver Emeka Egbuka or third-round cornerback Jacob Parrish, each of whom also had their moments.

Heading into training camp, there was plenty of hype about Walker, who racked up 39 sacks in four seasons at the FCS level between Southern Arkansas and Central Arkansas. But before the pads even came on, Walker tore his ACL in the team’s third practice and his rookie season was over before it began.

Bucs OLBs coach Larry Foote and OLB David Walker – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

As the weeks went on during the 2025 regular season, sacks became harder to come by for Tampa Bay’s front four.

Defensive tackle Calijah Kancey tore his pectoral muscle in a Week 2 win at Houston and was sidelined on injured reserve until his eventual return in Week 18. Haason Reddick, a high-priced 31-year old outside linebacker was a bust of a free agent signing as he produced just 2.5 sacks in 13 games.

Would Walker have made a difference last year? Ask some within the Bucs organization and they’ll suggest he could have contended for the team’s sack lead with Yaya Diaby, who finished with seven sacks, as a rookie due to his uncanny instincts and his natural pass rush ability.

Others will say that Walker could’ve at least taken over when Reddick hurt his ankle at Detroit on Monday Night Football in Week 7 and Reddick probably wouldn’t have gotten his starting job back. At the very least, Walker would’ve been a better pass rushing rotational piece than either Anthony Nelson or Chris Braswell, who combined for a paltry four sacks.

The truth is, we’ll never know what Walker would’ve become during his rookie season or exactly how much he would’ve helped the team’s disappointing pass rush, which generated only 36 sacks last year – the lowest ever for a Todd Bowles defense in Tampa Bay. Instead, Walker became a bit of a legend or a myth.

A curious case of “Oh, what could have been?” for the rookie pass rusher.

But we’re on the verge of finding out exactly what Walker can do, and how high he climb up the outside linebacker depth chart in Tampa Bay this season.

Bucs OLB David Walker – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

I spoke with Walker this week and got an update on his state of mind heading into his first real season of playing for the Buccaneers and how his surgically-repaired knee is healing.

“It’s getting close, I’m really close,” said Walker, who believes he’ll be on the field for OTAs in May following this year’s NFL Draft. “I think I’ll be fine. We have a great staff on our hand and they are going to get me right.”

Walker tore his knee ligament near the end of practice on Friday, July 25 when the team was doing a two-minute drill. Because he had impressed in the offseason and the first two days of camp, Bucs head coach Todd Bowles had Walker replace Reddick with the first team during this drill to see how well he could pass rush against right tackle Luke Goedeke.

“I was excited to be out there with the ones,” Walker said. “This is the highest level and the coaches put that trust in me to put me out there in that two-minute situation just to see what I was capable of, and I was excited about that.”

Then, in one play, his season was over before August rolled around. Walker quickly turned disappointment into opportunity.

“Man, I learned so much last year,” Walker said. “I learned to be in the now – to be present and to be where my feet are. There were things I needed to get better at. Just seeing the guys and seeing how they rush from a different perspective than being out there on the field. It really helped me mentally a lot.”

Walker said he truly became a student of the game because he was unable to be on the field. Football to Walker became about watching film rather than playing on grass.

“I saw some stuff I can implement in my game from the things that Yaya and Haason were doing and put in my game when it’s time to play,” Walker said. “I learned how to read offenses and seeing what type of schemes they run and knowing when it’s going to be run or pass. And then to be able to react faster – even though I’m not out there with them.”

Bucs OLB David Walker and OLBs coach Larry Foote – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Outside linebackers coach Larry Foote came up to me after practice on Monday, July 28 and told me that losing Walker was a gut punch. He said his absence was going to be a big blow for the team’s pass rush in 2025, and that the rookie was going to see a lot of time as a designated pass rusher.

“Yeah I kind of knew what I was getting into because of the work and the stuff that I put in,” Walker said. “But I was ready to contribute in any type of way. I was I was just excited to play football again.”

So instead of working with Walker on the field, Foote was forced to work with the Central Arkansas product only in the classroom.

“I still went to all the meetings and sat in on them and all the installs,” Walker said. “After that I did my rehab and I was pretty much done for the day. But it was good to sit in there with the coaches and see why we were running this certain defense, why am I dropping into coverage on this play and stuff like that. It was good to see it from a coach’s perspective almost.”

“[Foote] stressed a lot about having a motor. Just about always running to the ball because you never know when that play is going to be your play. He just stressed relentless effort, and I feel like that is something that I have, and that’s something that I’m ready to show.”

Walker spent a ton of time in the film room during the season, watching current star pass rushers and some of the legends of the game, taking notes and adding some moves to his game.

“I enjoy watching other guys like Micah [Parsons] and back in the day with James Harrison and Dwight Freeney,” Walker said. “I enjoy watching those guys and just seeing how well they got off the ball and the little stuff that they took serious like the details and hand placement. I feel like that part just comes natural to me, from playing different sports, from doing all these other things. Man, it’s been good.”

Bucs OLB David Walker – Photo by: USA Today

I asked Walker what makes him such a good pass rusher.

“Really it’s my instincts,” Waker said. “I think I can bring that juice – that spark. When we have all of our guys, including me and Calijah Kancey, I feel like it’s going to be a big difference.”

Then I asked Walker if he realized he’s kind of become a bit of myth because there was a lot of hype around him heading into training camp and if that brings any added pressure into this season.

“When it comes to pressure, I think pressure is good,” Walker said. “If you’re not feeling pressure, I don’t think you’re doing something right. I like the feeling of people saying, ‘Is David Walker going to make a play?” I know what I’m capable of, and nine times out of 10, I’m guaranteed to make some type of play whether it’s on defense, special teams or whatever is asked of me.

“I missed my rookie year. This year I get the chance to prove to the world – and not just myself – what type of player I am.”

FAB 2. The Faith In David Walker

When rookie outside linebacker David Walker hurt his knee during Tampa Bay’s third training camp practice, he knew it didn’t feel right after it happened. After an MRI revealed a torn ACL and that his rookie season would be over before it really began, Walker was incredibly disappointed.

For a brief instance. Then a switch flipped and his perspective changed almost instantly due to Walker’s relationship with God.

“Man, it was hard at first, knowing that I was going to miss my rookie year of playing football,” Walker said. “It was a good thing that my identity wasn’t wrapped up in football. It was wrapped up in my belief in the Lord, and the Lord has gotten me through that.”

Walker is a man of faith and Christ follower, and he credits the Lord for helping him quickly turn the page on the disappointment of his knee injury and putting him on the path to recovery, and becoming a better football player along the way – even if it wasn’t on the gridiron.

Bucs OLB David Walker – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

“My belief helped me flip into a real-world situation,” Walker said. “Football wasn’t going to happen for me this year, and it’s not going to be forever. So sitting out this entire year helped me reflect on what was going to be after football. What are my hobbies? What am I going to do after this game is over? The Lord just put it on my heart that He blessed me with this game, and He took it away from me for a season.”

Walker said he became a better player by becoming a better student of the game in the film room. He also spent his rookie season working on becoming stronger and more explosive in the weight room while he was doing his rehab for his surgically-repaired knee.

“I got with the nutrition staff on our team and they hooked me up with a plan that I’m following,” Walker said. “I’m looking for a big transformation coming up this season. I’m weighing about 259 right now and I’m trying to get down to 255.”

Walker weighed in at the NFL Scouting Combine last year at 6-foot-1, 263 pounds and even did a flip after the field drills were over, which was incredibly impressive given his size.

Walker had two seasons with double-digit sacks in college, and never fewer than eight sacks in any season as he totaled 39 QB captures and six forced fumbles over four years. After a year off the gridiron, Walker is ready to put his God-given ability on display in Tampa Bay and get to the quarterback.

“Football is something I’m passionate about,” Walker said. “Man, I love the game of football. I love what I do – rushing the quarterback and being able to help the team in any capacity that they ask of me. I’m just excited.”

Bucs OLB David Walker – Photo courtesy of Central Arkansas

Walker is a very humble man off the field, and an incredibly nice guy. But he admits that once he puts on his football helmet, a switch flips inside and suddenly he plays with bad intentions.

“I feel like you have to have a switch you can turn on,” Walker said. “When I’m in the game I live by this Bible verse – Colossians 3:23 – ‘whatever you do, do it wholeheartedly for the Lord and not for man.’ So when I’m out there and I’m doing something that I love. I give it my all.”

Walker reconciles the physical mean streak he plays with his faith in God. The Bible is full of warriors for Christ, and Walker’s favorite is Simon Peter, whom Jesus later renamed “The Rock.”

“I’ll say Peter was my favorite,” Walker said. “All of Christ’s disciples, really, but Peter stands out. When they were about to take Jesus to the cross, he cut of a guy’s ear with his sword and said, ‘You’re not touching him!’ I love how protective he was and how willing he was to risk it all for Christ.”

After dedicating his life to God and becoming a warrior in his faith, Walker is ready to become a warrior for the Buccaneers and help Todd Bowles’ unit attack the quarterback this year.

“I can’t wait,” Walker said. “I’ve had some really good years rushing the passer and I’m just ready to put that on display.”

FAB 3. Bucs Must Revamp Their OLB Room

As good as the Bucs hope David Walker can become in 2026, general manager Jason Licht and head coach Todd Bowles must realize that he is still an unproven commodity at the NFL level.

Hope is not a strategy, and there must be the realization that Walker has yet to put on shoulder pads in Tampa Bay.

As I said in my latest Pewter Pulse video on PewterReportTV, Walker must be thought of as a “bonus Buccaneer” this year – an extra fourth-round pick. His return to action in 2026 can’t make the team forego upgrading the outside linebacker room in free agency and the NFL Draft. And I don’t think it will.

Licht and Bowles know that Walker will be on the 53-man roster and somewhere on Tampa Bay’s outside linebacker depth chart. Exactly where will be determined in training camp and in the preseason.

But the outside linebacker room desperately needs an overhaul after the unit underwhelmed for another season in Tampa Bay. After recording just 12 sacks in 2024, the entire Bucs outside linebackers combined for just 14 last year.

That’s a far cry from the days when Shaq Barrett and Jason Pierre-Paul would combine for 28 sacks in 2019, or even 17.5 during the 2020 regular season en route to winning Super Bowl LV.

Here’s what the Bucs were hoping their outside linebacker room would look like after drafting Walker on Day 3 and signing veteran edge rusher Haason Reddick to a one-year, $14 million deal in free agency.

OLB1 Haason Reddick
OLB2 Yaya Diaby
OLB3 David Walker
OLB4 Chris Braswell
OLB5 Anthony Nelson

After Walker’s season-ending knee injury in training camp, this is what the OLB depth chart ultimately became with Markees Watts making the roster due to special teams. And it simply wasn’t good enough.

OLB1 Haason Reddick
OLB2 Yaya Diaby
OLB3 Anthony Nelson
OLB4 Chris Braswell
OLB5 Markees Watts

Licht failed to replace Walker in training camp, and in hindsight, he should have made a trade or found another edge rusher to come in and challenge Chris Braswell, Tampa Bay’s second-round pick in 2024, for playing time. Licht and Bowles put way too much faith in  Braswell’s development, which was a mistake.

Braswell showed signs of being a bust as a rookie when he couldn’t beat out Joe Tryon-Shoyinka for more playing time and finished with a disappointing 1.5 sacks. After all, his lack of instincts in 2024 led to the Bucs drafting Walker the next year.

Braswell played even less in his second season and finished with just one sack. The Bucs need to operate under the assumption that Braswell won’t develop and needs to be replaced on the depth chart this season. If Braswell’s pass rush suddenly comes to life in his third training camp and preseason in Tampa Bay, so be it. But that should just come as a welcomed surprise and not an expectation.

Licht and Bowles must enter the 2026 offseason with the mindset of needing to replace Braswell and Reddick, who surely won’t be re-signed after being a bust of a free agent with just 2.5 sacks. The following needs to be the working depth chart at One Buccaneer Place this offseason, as both Yaya Diaby and Anthony Nelson are both entering contract years:

OLB1 Free agent edge rusher
OLB2 Yaya Diaby
OLB3 Day 1 or Day 2 draft pick
OLB4 David Walker
OLB5 Anthony Nelson

I don’t think the Bucs will swing a trade for Raiders Pro Bowl edge rusher Maxx Crosby due to the high cost – draft pick collateral and Crosby’s $30 million salary in 2026. Plus, that’s not Licht’s M.O., as he’s never pulled off a blockbuster trade before. The highest amount of draft pick compensation that Licht has ever surrendered in any trade was a third-rounder for Pierre-Paul in 2018.

I also don’t see Licht investing around $20 million in 31-year old Bengals edge rusher Trey Hendrickson, who is coming off surgery to repair his hip and pelvic region. Most great pass rushers see a steep decline in their production – and an increase in injuries. Reddick is the most recent example of this phenomenon.

Instead, I could see Licht maybe paying Bills edge rusher Joey Bosa, who is 30, somewhere around $10 million-$11 million for one year after he recorded five sacks and five forced fumbles in his first year in Buffalo. Or perhaps $8 million for Bengals speed rusher Joseph Ossai, 25, or Bills reserve edge rusher A.J. Epenesa, 27, who might come cheaper at around $6.5 million. New defensive line coach Marcus West coached Bosa and Epenesa last year in Buffalo.

And Tampa Bay is expected to select at least one edge rusher in the first three rounds this season in a draft that is loaded with good pass rushing outside linebacker candidates.

Through a mix of another free agent addition and another premium draft pick, the Bucs must overhaul their outside linebacker room and infuse the unit with far more talent to make up for the busts that were Reddick and Braswell last year.

FAB 4. Plenty Of OLB Candidates For Bucs In 2026 Draft

After whiffing on first-round edge rusher Joe Tryon-Shoyinka in 2021 and Chris Braswell, a second-rounder in 2024, the Bucs need to continue to swing away at the outside linebacker position in the draft until they get another hit like general manager Jason Licht had in 2023 third-round pick Yaya Diaby, who has been a starter since midway through his rookie season.

With Miami edge rusher Rueben Bain Jr. and Texas Tech’s David Bailey expected to be off the board by the time Tampa Bay picks at No. 15 in the first round, here are some outside linebacker candidates the Bucs will be considering on Day 1 or Day 2.

BUCS’ POTENTIAL FIRST-ROUND OLB TARGETS

Texas A&M’s Cashius Howell
Miami’s Akheem Mesidor

BUCS’ POTENTIAL SECOND-ROUND OLB TARGETS

Oklahoma’s R Mason Thomas
Michigan’s Derrick Moore
Texas Tech’s Romello Height
Tennessee’s Joshua Joseph

BUCS’ POTENTIAL THIRD-ROUND OLB TARGETS

Auburn’s Keyron Crawford
UCF’s Malachi Lawrence
Ohio State’s Caden Curry
Western Michigan’s Nadame Tucker

Auburn’s Keldrick Faulk, Clemson’s T.J. Parker, Alabama’s LT Overton and Missouri’s Zion Young are expected to be first- or second-round picks, but they are projected to be 4-3 defensive ends rather than ideal 3-4 outside linebacker candidates to fit Tampa Bay’s 3-4 scheme.

Pewter Report had Texas A&M’s Cashius Howell as Tampa Bay’s first-round pick in our 2026 7-Round Bucs Mock Draft 2.0. Check out the latest Mock Draft 2 Show on PewterReportTV.

FAB 5. SR’s Buc Shots

• While David Walker turned to his faith in God to help him in his rehab from a torn ACL last year, Bucs running back Bucky Irving spiraled into a depression when he suffered knee and foot injuries in Week 4 that kept him out of action until Week 13. Walker helped Irving turn to Christ during the season to help his mental state and get out of his funk.

On December 7, Irving got baptized before the Bucs hosted the Saints and Walker was there at church to film it.

“Man, I feel like that was one of the best things – seeing a brother on the football team, not just a friend, give his life to Christ,” Walker said. “I feel like that is the most important thing that anybody can do.”

• David Walker found all of his outside linebacker teammates to be helpful during his rookie year. But Walker said Yaya Diaby is someone who he took special interest in watching and learning from last season. Diaby wound up leading the Bucs with seven sacks.

“I like Yaya a lot and I like how he approaches the game,” Walker said. “He takes care of his body, and he does all of the little stuff right. I just like his energy as he’s trying to rush, and he can also play the run as well as he rushes the passer. Those are the things he does that I look at, and I’ll ask him questions about the little details because I haven’t played the game yet. He’s been a good guy to ask those things to.”

• Will Mike Evans actually leave Tampa Bay in free agency? There was a report this week that revealed that Evans, who turns 33 in August, will in fact play in 2026 rather than retire, but that he will explore his options in free agency.

Some Bucs fans have pewter-colored glasses on and don’t think there is really a chance that Evans could leave the Bucs. But I’ve maintained since Tony Pauline’s report at the Senior Bowl where he heard there is less than a 50% chance that Evans returns to Tampa Bay, that there is something real to that report.

Bucs WR Mike Evans – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

I’m not saying that Evans won’t be back in red and pewter to finish out his illustrious career in Tampa Bay. But it would not surprise me at all if he leaves to play for a team that has a real shot at contending for the Super Bowl in 2026. Evans was not happy with the Bucs’ collapse last year and the team missing the playoffs. And he may not trust Todd Bowles enough to fix in the defense over the next year or two. If Evans decides to play elsewhere, that will be the reason.

Unless he makes up his mind to leave Tampa Bay prior to the start of free agency, I would expect Evans to not sign anywhere until a day or two into free agency to give the Bucs the chance to make some free agent moves to improve the defense. He has a lot of respect for general manager Jason Licht, the man who made him the Bucs’ first-round pick in 2014.

And because that respect is mutual, don’t expect Licht to use the franchise tag on Evans to prevent him from leaving the Bucs if that’s what he desires. Licht is not going to hold Evans hostage against his will after all that he’s done for the franchise.

• Pewter Report will be traveling to Indianapolis next week to cover the NFL Scouting Combine and the press conferences of general manager Jason Licht and head coach Todd Bowles on Tuesday. We’ll have a Bucs Combine Preview show on Monday’s Pewter Report Podcast before we depart and then our Press Conference Reaction show on Tuesday’s Pewter Report Podcast live from Indy.

Don’t miss these shows, which can viewed on our PewterReportTV YouTube channel as well as streaming live on X and Facebook @PewterReport.