TAMPA - Second-year edge rusher David Walker recorded his first NFL sack, a tackle for loss and a quarterback hit against the Cleveland Browns in Week Two at Raymond James Stadium, capping a comeback from two torn ACLs that wiped out his entire rookie season.

Walker, who suffered a torn ACL in the Buccaneers’ third training camp practice in 2025 and was placed on injured reserve after surgery, returned to the field this season with a different perspective on the game that made him one of the most productive players in FCS history.

“I knew that the Lord did not bring me this far just to bring me this far and I knew that He had bigger things planned,” Walker said. “I feel like during the season when I was down and I could not play and I was just around watching the team and the guys, I think he stripped me of an identity that football was my identity at that point and it being taken away, it showed me that there is so much more than football, so now that I am back, I am grateful just to be here and be on the field.”

The sack came in the second quarter on a third down, when Walker used a speed rush and rip move to reach Cleveland quarterback Deshaun Watson in the backfield. “Coach called a man play, it was third down and we had a QB spy,” Walker said. “I took the speed rush approach, and I beat him around the edge and I saw that Deshaun was there and thought, ‘Dang, this might be my opportunity.’ I just made a play.”

Walker arrived in Tampa with an extraordinary college résumé. Over four seasons split between Central Arkansas and Southern Arkansas, he accumulated 82.5 tackles for loss and 39 sacks, earning three consecutive conference player of the year honors and the 2024 Buchanan Award as the top FCS defensive player in the country. He was a three-time Consensus All-American.

“Who would have thought two ACL surgeries and now, I am back playing the thing that I love,” Walker said. The edge rusher, who grew up in a town of roughly 9,000 people, credited his small-town upbringing for the mindset that carried him through the injuries. “I think as a pass rusher it is in the heart,” he said. “You are not going to win them all but the ones that you do and the ones that you get, you are going to have to work for. Growing up as a small-town kid with roughly 9,000 people, I did not get anything handed to me and I had to grind for everything and I think that translates to football.”

The Buccaneers continue their 2026 regular season schedule with Walker now established as an active contributor on the defensive line.