As veteran inside linebacker Anthony Walker Jr. joins the Buccaneer defense, what added dimension will he bring to Todd Bowles system?

Brianna Dix

Following the departure of K.J. Britt in free agency, the Buccaneers signed inside linebacker Anthony Walker Jr. Walker will join Lavonte David, another Miami native, in Tampa Bay. The two have long been friends due to their South Florida roots.

"Obviously, the respect that he has in Tampa, on this team, in the city, everywhere he's been, he's touched a lot of lives and for him to help me get here is amazing as well," said Walker. "Obviously, a chance to be teammates with him would be pretty dope and I kept telling him that. He said one day he was going to make it happen. We've been trying to get this done since I was getting drafted but [we were] finally able to get it done."

Throughout his NFL tenure, Walker has started 83 of 99 games, splitting time between the Indianapolis Colts (2017-20), Cleveland Browns (2021-23) and Miami Dolphins (2024). He has recorded 571 career tackles (26 for loss), 21 passes defensed, nine quarterback hits, 5.5 sacks, four interceptions, four fumble recoveries and two forced fumbles. Walker has started all three of his career postseason contests, logging 12 tackles (one for loss).

He appeared in 14 games for the Dolphins in 2024 (eight starts) and totaled 66 tackles, two passes defensed and 1.0 sack. Walker originally entered the league as a fifth-round pick (No. 161 overall) in the 2017 NFL Draft. He played collegiately at Northwestern University (2014-16), playing in 38 career games and tallying 278 tackles, 12 passes defensed, 7.5 sacks, six forced fumbles and six fumble recoveries.

Over the course of his career, Walker has set the tone in defending the run as the MIKE linebacker, forcing teams to be one dimensional. He quickly fires downhill and as the game has evolved in recent years with an uptick in RPOs and spreads, Walker has modified his game to counter the offensive trends. Walker has the burst to outpace rushers to the corner and plays with elite awareness on the field and outstanding eye discipline in coverage. He is adept at mitigating screens, as well as covering man-to-man. Walker will help solidify the Bucs' pass defense on third down and the well-rounded linebacker will help fortify the position group alongside David and SirVocea Dennis in the Bay,

"Obviously, defense is all about knowing where your spot is and everyone knowing where their spot is and understanding how offenses can attack us and making sure we limit those games where they do throw it there," described Walker. "It starts out with me doing my job and my job is to cover the middle of the field. I pride myself on not allowing the ball to be thrown deep behind me or deep in front of me. That's my job. That's me knowing what the defensive call is and executing my job at that time, whether I'm blitzing or I'm dropping in coverage or I'm stopping the run. Whatever it is, you just want to execute your job and make sure the other 10 guys are on the same page as you with what the defensive call is. I see all the stuff on social media and everything where people [are] like, 'His PFF grade' And all that. I'm just here to tell you, you can watch the film the ball does not get completed behind me or in front of me in the middle of the field and that's how I feel."