Buccaneers Edge Rusher With 39 Sacks Called ‘Biggest Steal’ of NFL Draft

While we speculate every year about what teams might need or whatever moves they might make in the NFL draft, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers continue to be a model of stability. They see a need, they fill it.

Tampa Bay needed defensive backs. They drafted 2 of them. Back to back.

Tampa Bay needed edge rushers. They drafted 2 of them. Back to back. And one of those edge rushers, fourth round pick (No. 121 overall) David Walker, might end up being one of the biggest steals of the draft.

A to Z Sports NFL Editor Evan Winter actually predicted the Buccaneers would take Walker in his mock draft, and did so to the exact spot Walker was taken.

“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.”

Tracking Walker’s Path to the NFL Draft

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.

High Praise Before and After Selection

“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. “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.”

Walker solidified his draft status at the NFL scouting combine, where he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.69 seconds while registering a 35-inch vertical leap and knocking out 26 reps in the 225-pound bench press.

NFL draft analyst Lance Zierlein also had Walker projected as a fourth round pick.

“Heralded FCS edge rusher with jarring production in high-impact stat columns,” Zierlein wrote. “Walker falls below height and length standards but … he has explosive, freaky power in his lower half. He can leverage and anchor the point and create instant pocket consequences with his bull rush. He’s an instinctive rusher with an above-average attack portfolio but a lack of length will be an obstacle to overcome.”