The Tampa Bay Buccaneers fell to 1-5 on Sunday with a loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, giving them sole possession of the worst record in the NFC. There have been a few reasons why Tampa Bay has fallen behind this season, and the pass rush is certainly one of them.
The Buccaneers rank 31st in pressure rate and 23rd in sack rate, per Sumersports. Their pass rush has been considerably lacking once again, despite bringing in two edge rushers in first-round pick Rueben Bain Jr. and free agent Al-Quadin Muhammad.
There's one edge rusher the Bucs have on the roster that has been shining, though. He's been getting an increased number of snaps every week because of his play — but should he be getting even more snaps than he is?
Should David Walker Be Starting?
The Buccaneers drafted David Walker in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft. He tore his ACL that year in training camp and did not play, so this year is his first bit of NFL action. And boy, is he making the most of it.
Walker has indisputably been Tampa Bay's best pass rusher this year so far. He has a 28% pressure rate on 50 snaps, with the next highest player on the team being linebacker Alex Anzalone at 10.4% — the next highest defensive lineman is Calijah Kancey at 10.1%, and the next highest edge rusher is Anthony Nelson at 7.1%.
Walker's snaps have been steadily increasing each game, and he had the third-most snaps of the team's edge rushers against the Pittsburgh Steelers. But there's a very good argument he should be starting for the Buccaneers, as the team's two starters, Bain and Yaya Diaby, both have a pressure rate of just 6.6% and have just one sack between the two of them.
Head coach Todd Bowles isn't quite ready to commit to Walker starting, though. When asked about Walker on Monday, he said that the amount of snaps Walker can get from game to game are gameplan dependent.
"Yeah, game plan-wise, we ramp it up every week – he's been playing that well," Bowles said. "We give him the plays we can give him, but it's been ramped up every week. Depending on the game plan and what the other team does and personnel-wise, you want to see him get more reps in there. We intend to do that, but sometimes it doesn't work out that way depending on the game."
The Bucs are 1-5 and are already on the brink of oblivion (if they aren't there already). A solid pass rush can be the difference-maker when it comes to beating teams, and Walker gives the Bucs the best chance to have one so far this season. He's been playing more and more every week, but at this point, with how much better he's been playing than anyone else in the edge room, he should be starting.
The Bucs will face off against the Carolina Panthers in a crucial division game next Sunday. When they do, it will be interesting to see how much participation Walker has in the game, especially after his performance against the Steelers in Week 6.
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