After a lost rookie season, the former All-American is terrorizing training camp with elite win rates, drawing comparisons to Shaquil Barrett ahead of his long-awaited preseason debut.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers' pass rush was one of the team's major weaknesses last season.
Amassing just a 19.8-percent pressure rate, Tampa ranked No. 25 in the NFL, according to Pro Football Focus.
But, this offseason, the pass rush has been addressed, with the team adding veteran and youth talents on the outside.
While Rueben Bain Jr. and Al-Quadin Muhammad are amongst the two more-notable additions, the player who has impressed the most is yet to make his NFL debut.
Sophomore outside linebacker David Walker has been menacing to start training camp, recording a "ghost" sack in nine consecutive practices as of Sunday.
Following another standout practice, veteran defensive tackle Rakeem Nuñez-Roches talked about what he's seen from Walker.
"D-Walker is somethin' serious," Nuñez-Roches said. "I feel like he has a 95 win percentage ratio. … He’s definitely vicious."
Pewter Report has continued to track Walker at training camp, who has perhaps been the most dominant player on the defensive side of the ball as a whole.
Two seasons ago, the Bucs selected Walker in the fourth round, making him one of 12 players to ever be drafted out of Central Arkansas.
Roundtable's Joe Smeltzer highlighted his dominance at Central Arkansas, writing "For any FCS player to impress an NFL team, they must put up killer numbers, and that's what Walker did. He was a three-time All-American, ending his college career with a school-record 39 sacks (in just three seasons) and 82.5 tackles for loss."
Walker also added 244 tackles, six forced fumbles and eight passes defensed in his career, while being named defensive player of the year in his respective conference three seasons in a row.
After being drafted, Walker earned comparisons to a former Bucs Super Bowl champion, Shaquil Barrett.
Buccaneers Vice President of Player Personnel Mike Biehl shared this note after drafting him:
"Just from the instincts and the savvy that he has as a rusher, it's a lot like Shaq. If you look back at Shaq, he was actually undrafted and a lot of it was he didn't fit the typical mold of an outside 'backer," Biehl told the team's reporter. "He was successful because of his instincts as a rusher, his savviness, his hand usage -- the things that you can't really teach. We think David has a lot of those things."
Unfortunately, a torn ACL kept Walker from making his rookie debut, setting him up for a later start to his career than others in his class.
But, this clearly hasn't stopped him from making an impression on his teammates and coach, with head coach Todd Bowles saying he is certainly in contention to get reps with the first team going forward.
Bowles said he is still being cautious to mix in "reps with rest" in regard to Walker, but said that he will get a lot of action in next week's preseason matchup against the New York Jets.
A strong showing against New York is in the cards for Walker, who will finally be able to truly get his "sacks" that he has been earning in camp.
