One of the biggest surprises of the 2025 preseason was the play of edge rusher and 4th-round draft pick David Walker, who seemed primed to either be a starter or a major contributor before tearing his ACL.
Headed into 2026, Walker is healed and at the heart of 1 of ESPN’s Dan Graziano’s top “Bold Predictions” for the upcoming season.
“Up front, they’re incredibly excited about 2026 first-round pick Rueben Bain Jr. and 2025 fourth-round pick David Walker, who was impressing everyone in the building last summer before suffering a season-ending injury early in camp,” Graziano wrote on September 3. “The Bucs look kind of loaded all across the roster, and assuming better injury luck this year (which almost has to happen), they should be back among the NFC contenders.”
Walker, 6-foot-2 and 260 pounds, is part of what is starting to shape up as a pretty incredible rotation of edge rushers with 2026 1st-round pick Rueben Bain Jr., 2025 sacks leader YaYa Diaby, Anthony Nelson, and Al-Quadin Muhammad, who had 11.0 sacks for the Detroit Lions last season.
David Walker Could Be ‘Cheat Code’ for Bucs
Bucs fans are excited to see what Walker can be — and he could help unlock a defense that struggled mightily in 2025 as the team missed the playoffs for the 1st time since 2019.
“A healthy David Walker will be a CHEAT code for the Buccaneers,” Sleeper Bucs wrote on its official X account on June 13. “Vita Vea, Calijah Kancey, YaYa Diaby, Bain Jr. and Walker will be (a movie).”
A to Z Sports NFL Editor Evan Winter called Walker the “biggest steal” of the 2025 NFL draft.
“Had the #Bucs taking David Walker at No. 121 in my final mock draft,” Winter wrote on his official X account on April 26. “They really liked him throughout the process and it’s easy to see why. He could easily become one of the bigger steals of the draft.”
Non-Typical Path to Becoming NFL Draft Pick
While a typical path for some draft picks in the NIL era is to start their careers at a mid-major then transfer up to a Power Four school once they show even the faintest sign of promise, Walker’s path was different.
That’s because the Stuttgart, Arkansas, native started even lower than a mid-major. Walker, 6-foot-1 and 263 pounds, spent the first 2 seasons of his college career at NCAA Division II Southern Arkansas. Walker, like the rest of NCAA Division II, didn’t even have a season in 2020 because of the pandemic, then had 52 tackles, 19.5 TFL, and 8.0 sacks in 2021 before transferring to Central Arkansas.
Walker proved to be just as dominant on the FCS level, where he was a 3-time All-American and finished with 191 tackles and 31.0 sacks over 3 seasons, including winning the Buck Buchanan Award as the nation’s top defensive player in FCS.
Walker was also the Atlantic Sun Defensive Player of the Year in 2022, then the United Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year in 2023 and 2024.
ESPN Makes ‘Bold Prediction’ on Bucs’ 2nd-Year Defender