Last year, Buccaneers rookie linebacker David Walker was making a great impression. But then, in the team’s third training-camp practice, he suffered a torn ACL.
This year, Walker is back. And he’s back to making a great impression again.
“He’s got his quickness and his speed back,” Bucs coach Todd Bowles said, via Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times. “So as a pass rusher, he’s looked very good as far as his movements and everything else. I was just excited to see him in pads last year [before the injury], so right now he looks very good. He’s looking fast.”
Walker, a fourth-round pick, is ready to make the impact he didn’t get a chance to make in 2025.
“I just want to thank God,” Walker said, per Stroud. “The injury was big and the whole time I knew that He didn’t bring me this far to bring me this far. So I knew I had to attack rehab, I knew I had to do those things and I’m here. I’m back playing the game that I love. It’s exciting. It’s exciting.”
The Bucs will get a better look at what he can do when he practices for the first time in pads, on Monday.
“I think he can do almost everything,” Bowles said. “Height-wise, he’s probably the shortest of the bunch. Everybody forgets he’s 260-something. He plays with great leverage and power. I think he’s played both sides. He’s probably a good inside kicker as well getting off the ball and doing some things like that. So when he gets the pads on, we’ll figure it out.”
”I’m just taking it day by day,” Walker said. “I’m not trying to look too far ahead. I’m not trying to look at whether I might be playing or not. I’m trying to do what I can do to compete.”
If he does what the Bucs think he can do, they’ll go a long way toward boosting their pass rush. Having first-round rookie Reuben Bain Jr. won’t hurt.
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