David Walker Gets National Love (But Bucs Get Trashed)
October 21st, 2026
David Walker takes down Aaron Rodgers for one of his two sacks.
The Legend of David Walker continues to grow, even though his defensive coordinator doesn’t seem to be all that impressed with his budding star edge rusher.
One may argue the Legend of David Walker was sprouted on the afternoon he was drafted. In the Bucs’ war room, Buccaneers.com cameras caught outside linebackers coach Larry Foote racing up to Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht and hollering, “That’s how you win a Super Bowl!”
Sadly, Walker blew out a knee just minutes from the end of his first padded practice with the Bucs and missed his entire rookie season.
This year, Licht went on his normal spring media tour and every stop along the way he couldn’t stop raving about Walker. Most people were scared to embrace Licht’s cheerleading as the previous offseason he had similar declarations for Chris Braswell.
Licht even went on Wakeup Barstool, seen weekday mornings on FS1, and was goaded into talking about Walker from Barstool Sports’ resident Bucs superfan Steven Cheah.
Licht was so giddy about Walker that the show’s host, former LSU offensive lineman T-Bob, son of former slimy Saints quarterback and Michigan Panthers legend Bobby Hebert, basically told Licht to clam up because America doesn’t care about a fourth-round pick from Central Arkansas who had yet to snap on a chin strap in a game.
Well looky here. On Wakeup Barstool this week, Walker was actually a topic of desired conversation because he has proven to be one of the top edge rushers in the NFL (but his coach is still not convinced).
“Four sacks in 99 snaps,” T-Bob boasted of Walker. As far as currently being the best pass rusher in the league, T-Bob said, “It’s not even close.”
But the general topic was the bottom-five NFL teams. Big Cat had the Bucs at No. 30.
“They. Suck!” Big Cat said.
Cheah then unleashed a short rant on Todd Bowles and his usage of both Rueben Bain and the game clock Sunday against the Steelers.
America is beginning to understand the misery Bucs fans currently wade through each week.
.@BarstoolBigCat unveils his bottom 5 teams in the NFL pic.twitter.com/ZxSunB36mv
— Wake Up Barstool (@wakeupbarstool) October 20, 2026
October 21st, 2026 at 4:29 am
The situation with Walker is easy to figure out. I see it every day with micro managers. You have an employee who is doing fantastic work, but they’re not doing it the way their supervisor wants them to. So, the supervisor proceeds to limit hours and shifts because this employee (in his mind) is not following protocol. Walker is most likely free lancing while making plays. Good for him!! Micro Managers tend to make everyone’s life extremely miserable. Does that sound like the Bucs in a nutshell? Does to me!
October 21st, 2026 at 4:36 am
It’s a Buc’s life.
October 21st, 2026 at 4:45 am
Kudos to Walker. Well earned!!
The Bucs are built through the draft. (Actually, if we look back at the Brady era we’ll see THAT team found its bones in the draft and its stars in free agency but that’s another era. No one is beating down the door to play with Jaylon Daniels. Or Baker Mayfield either).
An average to good team is built with good players. Very good to great teams sprinkle in some stars and superstars. The more high-end talent you have the better the team.
Bucs’ problem is that they have been living on past talent. What superstars have they added since Wirfs? We keep trying to anoint our draft picks as stars — Bucky, Graham, Ebuka. The front office dumps gobs of money on good-not-great ones as they get near free agency — Vea, Baker. But the hype machine sputters on a lot of JAGs — Diaby, Kancey, Otton.
It’s hard to find standout talent. This year there are three players outperforming the League: McLaughlin, Robinson and Walker. The first two were signed in free agency; only Walker was drafted. The team may have some baby stars —Trotter? Bain? Hurst?? Scott?? Sharp???? — but the play on the field shows we don’t have enough superior talent in the tank and we definitely don’t have enough in the places that matter.
Seems like a front office problem to me.
October 21st, 2026 at 5:07 am
Lou, excellent NFL coaches have the ability to make average players good and good players great. I still believe that there is more talent on this team than most fans believe. When a player has already proven they’re good for several years then all of a sudden, they’re bad? This is either scheme, coaching or both. When two offensive coordinators have success, it shows it most likely its play calling. The current coaching staff has completely sucked the life out of this team. When your job is no longer fun, it affects both attitude and your ability to do your job. Good thing it will only take a year to figure this out. I believe Coen or any decent NFL coach would be 4-2 with this EXACT same roster.
October 21st, 2026 at 5:36 am
Bucnjim you hit the nail right on the head. Walker is probably doing it the way he wants and Todd Bowles doesn’t like it. I have also heard in the past that JPP and Sue also freelanced in that defense.
October 21st, 2026 at 6:50 am
Just do the right thing Bowles and keep Walker on the bench. Welcome to Todd’s bizzarro world.
October 21st, 2026 at 7:02 am
low-IQ not-ROH-worthy Jason Licht has his fingerprints all over this roster :
drafted 14 out of 24 on offense with 9 starters (3 first round)
drafted 16 out of 26 on defense with 9 starters (3 first round)
so if his defenders find him blameless the fault must be with the HC and OC not the roster – so why is Bowles still the HC ?
October 21st, 2026 at 7:16 am
I happen to think that the secondary (Parrish, Scott, McCollum, and Smith), along with Trotter, are playing well above average. Ironically, our often injured and late to the tackling pile, AWJ, is out with injury, again, and Dean has left the building.
If Licht breaks the piggy bank for Kancey this off season, the Glazers are fools for letting a good head scout lead their franchise
October 21st, 2026 at 7:21 am
With all of Bowles reads and rules, Walker has been thinking too much and playing slow. Now he’s just reacting and playing fast.
October 21st, 2026 at 8:29 am
Bucnjim Says:
“The situation with Walker is easy to figure out. I see it every day with micro managers. You have an employee who is doing fantastic work, but they’re not doing it the way their supervisor wants them to. So, the supervisor proceeds to limit hours and shifts because this employee (in his mind) is not following protocol.”
Sometimes protocols have meaning. Having been in multiple management positions before I retired, I was pretty much a fixer. Employers hired me to turn a business or franchise around. Out of many such situations, I failed only once, early on…and that was a situation where the owners had no set protocols and just told their people to upsell…sometimes dishonestly. I left the company after 90 days. I do not do dishonesty.
Protocols can be important. Take a Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise fore example. I was once hired to turn around a location that was in a very rough neighborhood. All of the employees were from that neighborhood, and they felt they were in charge. They did things their way. They figured it worked. For them. Not so much for the customers.
A franchise has to maintain the standards set forth in the franchise agreement. They were not. As a test, I went in as a regular employee, learned where the weaknesses were, learned which employees were good. Which were stealing, etc.
Then, the manager was fired (I caught him stealing and got the proof), and I was in charge. I had to fire two others to show the employees things would be different. I hired one back when she came to me and swore she would do things right.
It took me 4 weeks to turn things around…simply by being strict, but fair, and following company protocols. After a year of running the location, making it an example location, I decided to move on…and was promptly offered another fixer job in another state (Florida).
My point is…a manager should be open to new and better ways…so long as they do not violate contractual agreements.
That kind of work doesn’t offer retirement benefits, unfortunately…but I was great at it, and it paid very well while I did it. Since then I have owned two successful businesses and sold them. Newspapers wrote about me for a time, and I was considered by others to be successful. I never actually felt successful myself, until I retired at age 50 to write and got published. That is what I truly enjoy doing.
October 21st, 2026 at 8:31 am
Bucnjim Says:
“…excellent NFL coaches have the ability to make average players good and good players great. I still believe that there is more talent on this team than most fans believe. When a player has already proven they’re good for several years then all of a sudden, they’re bad? This is either scheme, coaching or both. When two offensive coordinators have success, it shows it most likely its play calling. The current coaching staff has completely sucked the life out of this team.”
100 percent true…well…except for our Special Teams coach, who, unfortunately is too old to last.
October 21st, 2026 at 9:15 am
this team is poorly coached scheme wise and with basic fundamentals….
GO BUCS!!!!
October 21st, 2026 at 9:23 am
Bowles is the problem. Plain and simple
October 21st, 2026 at 9:40 am
I absolutely hate micromanagers. They are terrible to work for and only motivate through fear. Good employees will simply get a new job.
My boss only steps in when needed and allows me to work on an island and my productivity reflects the trust he has in me.
I guarantee you if I went to him and said his way wasn’t the most efficient and showed him a better route, he’d be all for it.
Not Todd. He has one standard. His way no matter the rate of failure. When you deviate from his regression plan you sit.
That’s why the stadium has so many empty seats. If Bowels had his way he’d forcibly fill the stadium with compliant sheep like “fans”.
October 21st, 2026 at 9:56 am
2026 will be a defining moment for the Bucs and coaching staff. If Bowles is fired his coaching staff will face a similar outcome.
The Bowles naysayers will be happy. Bring in a new staff will be done by Jason Licht and hopefully endorsed by the Glazers.
The Bucs have built a rabbit hole for themselves. If it continues the Buccaneers could be among bottom feeders for the next couple of years. The bleeding needs to stop soon before it becomes a bloodbath.
October 21st, 2026 at 10:29 am
Bucnjim ,
Excellent points!
October 21st, 2026 at 11:04 am
Todd Bowles is coach of the year and man of the year. These other things are nonsense.
October 21st, 2026 at 11:07 am
It’s a 3-28 Bucs life.
October 21st, 2026 at 11:26 am
Joe Says:
He didn’t have “similar declarations” about Braswell. He said he expected to see big improvement from Braswell, after year 1. But go back to everything they said about him, against the much greater enthusiasm they had for Walker, it was obvious the difference. If you couldn’t discern that, it’s because of lazy thinking.
October 21st, 2026 at 12:18 pm
MCBay. Stop with the bowels best coach ever crap we all gotta read. He sucks!!!!!
You must be his nephew I’m guessing. Easily one of the worst coaches in the league. He wouldn’t get hired by any team as a HC if he was available which he will be after these 11 games
October 21st, 2026 at 1:18 pm
McKay is just here to trigger people. You can’t take him seriously.
October 21st, 2026 at 1:18 pm
*McBay
October 21st, 2026 at 2:56 pm
It’s not the coach it’s the players. First string defense is playing pretty well. The line is not rushing well (but are stopping the run well) but the OLB’s are better this year. The offensive line is not playing up to par. The secondary is playing really well for the most part. Offense seems out of sync because people like Bredeson miss blocking their guy too often or don’t hold blocks long enough. LB play is dramatically improved with Trotter. And Daniels is way too inaccurate to be a starting QB. Needs tons of work on accuracy.
It’s not Bowles or the scheme holding us back. Coaches don’t make blocks or get off of them or make tackles or throw accurate passes or get open to catch the ball. Those are the things the Bucs aren’t doing. On the defense it’s more lack of talent than effort. On the offense on the O-line it’s probably effort and in Bredeson’s case at least a little talent. I’d like to see our receivers getting more open too and passes much more accurate. Defense seems to eventually tire of trying to hold up a largely impotent offense. We need to score more. Barely moved the ball in the second half against Pitt! Need hero ball from both D-Line and O-line to win with no accurate QB. Have to run the football to win until Baker’s back. Still need to run well when he’s back to open up the pass.
October 21st, 2026 at 3:09 pm
The first thing Zac Robinson should have done was watch all the 2024 games, figure out what the O-line was doing then and replicate it now. It was all the same players! Do it- NOW.
October 21st, 2026 at 3:28 pm
I don’t see why we’d spend any more thought on figuring out what’s wrong or how to fix it… Guess what, fixes aren’t coming until Bowles is gone. Everything in between is just a waste of time. Winning doesn’t matter at this point. Let’s just get through the year without injury to any of our good young players, let’s trade off the dead weight, and let’s lose lose lose for draft position. There is no longer anything to gain by winning this year. i have given up completely on this team until Bowles is gone. Not investing any hope or expectation. I’d like to see Walker get 10 sacks, and Bain have good showing… that’s all.