The Bucs had a general plan of improving the team’s pass rush heading into the offseason and it feels like they accomplished this mission at the conclusion of the 2025 NFL Draft. One objective within the plan was to get more ballhawks on defense to generate more turnovers. Another objective of the plan was to improve Tampa Bay’s four-man pass rush so Todd Bowles doesn’t have to blitz as much and can drop more players into coverage.
When the Bucs signed Haason Reddick in free agency, he helped check both boxes, as he’s had posted 59 sacks and forced 17 fumbles in his eight-year NFL career. That, of course, is if he plays up to the level from two seasons ago and not like last year when he had just one sack in 10 games with the New York Jets.
But the Bucs weren’t done addressing their pass rush with the addition of Reddick. The team drafted two more pass rushers on Day 3 of the 2025 NFL Draft to bolster the defensive front.
Bucs Added To Pass Rush
Not only dud Tampa Bay select two pass rushers on Day 3, but the team also got tremendous draft value. Central Arkansas edge rusher David Walker was selected in the fourth round, and SMU defensive lineman Elijah Roberts was picked in the fifth round. Both will join the likes of Haason Reddick, Yaya Diaby, Vita Vea and Calijah Kancey as players that can get to the quarterback as rotational players, giving Tampa Bay a pass rush that is both deep and relentless. The Bucs now have a complement of several quarterback disrupters that can generate pressures and sacks rather than just relying on two or three players to do the heavy lifting.
“I think David Walker has proven that he is a super instinctive pass rusher,” Bucs assistant general manager Rob McCartney said about Tampa Bay’s first selection on Day 3. “He knows how to win on the high side with his speed. He loves to go speed to power. He doesn’t have long arms, but he uses what he does have with his length really well.
“He is really powerful, and he knows how to take the inside, too. It’s really like a unique presentation of how he looks but it really works for him, and he is super effective. He has great feet, so I think just his knack to get to the passer – he has been super productive at every stop, every year. I think there is a lot of confidence there.”
Central Arkansas OLB David Walker – Photo by: USA Today
Next, McCartney turned his attention to Roberts, who will move inside to defensive tackle after primarily playing defensive end at 285 pounds. Roberts is now up 292 pounds.
“Then, Elijah, we were down at the East-West [Shrine Bowl] and seeing him rush over the guard, which he didn’t do too too much at SMU – he was mostly off of the edge – and realizing he is 285 with the quickness and then the length, plus the power,” McCartney said. “I think that they can win from different spots, but I think that they have both been really productive which for us is a big indicator, and they both play really, really hard.”
Bucs Potentially Have Cornerstones For The Future In David Walker And Elijah Roberts
David Walker and Elijah Roberts will likely be rotational players in their rookie years in Tampa Bay with the potential for expanded roles in future seasons. Walker played for an FCS school in Central Arkansas, and will have to prove he can get still be a feared edge rusher against better talent. His production was always at a high level, recording 39 sacks in four seasons with a low of eight sacks in one season and a high of 12 sacks in another. How he wins one-on-one is what Tampa Bay likes about him.
“We always talk about this – he was the most dominant player on the field,” McCartney said. “When you watch those small school guys, a thing everyone always says in our profession is: if he’s not the best player on the field, it probably gives you some pause. Time and time again, David Walker showed up. Then he goes to Mobile, [Alabama], and does the same thing there. There was a lot of positivity to take from his time down at the Senior Bowl, too.
“That was another guy we spent time with at the Combine and we feel really good about not only the athlete, but the instincts, the power, the speed, his ability to help us on special teams, too, and rush from the off the edge. I think he’s another guy that we have some versatility with, too.”
Though he was picked one round later, Roberts may have a quicker path to more playing time. There’s no surprise that Vea and Kancey are the focal points of the Bucs’ defensive line. But with Logan Hall in the final year of his contract, Greg Gaines only re-signed for one year, and Will Gholston possibly retiring at age 33, Roberts has a chance to cut into some playing time and eventually become the first defensive tackle the Bucs look to in a reserve capacity. He produced 17.5 sacks in two seasons at SMU in addition to nearly 90 quarterback pressures, and has the versatility to play up and down the line of scrimmage.
Bucs DL Elijah Roberts – Photo by: USA Today
“I think he’s got the ability to do a lot of things,” McCartney said. “He’s a pressure player that can get to the quarterback. I think you start there and you see he’s 285, he runs in the 4.8’s [40-yard dash time] and he’s got long arms and a lot of production – both TFLs and sacks. I think his role is on third downs and sub packages. He’s going to be a guy that we can move around – we can stand him up or play him off the edge. I think he’s going to be really good rushing inside over guards, too.
“In the base stuff, I think there’s a chance we get creative with him, too. I think he can play [defensive] end, I think he can be the 4i (inside) [or] five-[technique] too. I think there’s going to be a lot of versatility that he’s going to be able to offer us.”
New Bucs defensive tackle Elijah Roberts will be the special guest of Thursday’s Pewter Report Podcast at 4:00 p.m. ET. You can watch the episode live at 4:00 p.m. ET on the PewterReportTV YouTube channel.