David Walker has 4 sacks on 99 snaps for the Bucs

Walker had 2 of Tampa Bay's 5 sacks of Aaron Rodgers in Sunday's 26-19 overtime loss to the Steelers, and the snap counts that came out Monday made it look even better.

Greg Auman

@gregauman

Bucs' David Walker has four sacks this season despite playing only 99 defensive snaps in six games. There are 17 NFL players with 4+ sacks this season -- the average defensive snaps in that group is 263. Walker is the lowest; only one close is Browns' Mason Graham (138).

The 17 guys at 4+ sacks are averaging 263 defensive snaps. Walker has played 99. The closest to him is Cleveland's Mason Graham at 138, and nobody else is near either of them. That's a guy who gets home almost every time they let him on the field.

Greg Auman

@gregauman

There's diminishing returns, yes, but if the NFL's current sack leader, Houston's Will Anderson, had the same sack-per-snap production as Walker, he'd have 13 sacks right now instead of his NFL-best 7.5. Buffalo's Greg Rousseau would have 14.

Greg Auman is right to hedge with the diminishing-returns point, since nobody keeps up a rate like that over 600 snaps. Still, think about it: Will Anderson leads the league with 7.5 and would be at 13 on Walker's rate. Greg Rousseau would be at 14. Even if you cut Walker's pace in half, he'd be a starter. And this is a 2025 4th-round pick (No. 121 overall) from Central Arkansas who missed his whole rookie year after tearing his ACL in training camp. At UCA he left as the school's all-time leader in sacks (31) and tackles for loss (63).

The Bucs are clearly noticing. His defensive snaps have gone up nearly every week, and on special teams he's still one of their busiest players. He logged 23 special-teams snaps against Pittsburgh, behind only the 4 guys at 24.

Greg Auman

@gregauman

OLB David Walker's usage with the Bucs continues to rise steadily. Defensive snap counts by week are 0-9-19-24-19-28 Special-teams snaps by week: 15-10-13-13-16-23

That's 0, 9, 19, 24, 19 and then 28 on Sunday, which was his high for the year. It was also the 3rd-most snaps of any Bucs OLB in the game. On top of that, Tampa Bay trusted him when it mattered most.

Greg Auman

@gregauman

David Walker played extensively in overtime. On the field for five of 12 Packers plays. Bucs edge snaps in overtime: Diaby 7, Walker 5, Bain 4, Muhammad 2. They also lined up with Robinson like an edge on four snaps.

Cody Bowers

@cody_bowers44

@gregauman Thanks Greg, must’ve missed that it was him on that one. Did he play any more that drive?

The tweet says Packers, but the snap counts are from the Steelers game. Pittsburgh got the ball first in overtime and drove for the Rodgers-to-Germie Bernard touchdown that won it, and Walker was out there for 5 of those 12 plays. Only Diaby played more edge snaps in OT. A guy who was a healthy 0 in Week 1 is now in the rotation in sudden death.

That's the takeaway here. The Bucs are 1-5 after blowing a 16-3 fourth-quarter lead, so the season isn't about saving face anymore. It's about finding out who's part of the next good Tampa defense. Walker leads the team in sacks by a lot on a part-time workload. Give him 40 snaps a week and see what happens. If the rate holds even partly, the Bucs found a pass rusher in the 4th round.