DeMarcus Walker (born September 30, 1994) is an American professional football defensive end for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Florida State and was selected by the Denver Broncos in the second round of the 2017 NFL draft.
 Walker in 2022 | |||||||||||
| No. 95 – Chicago Bears | |||||||||||
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| Position: | Defensive end | ||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||
| Born: | September 30, 1994 Jacksonville, Florida, U.S. | ||||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | ||||||||||
| Weight: | 280 lb (127 kg) | ||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||
| High school: | Sandalwood (Jacksonville, Florida) | ||||||||||
| College: | Florida State | ||||||||||
| NFL draft: | 2017 / round: 2 / pick: 51 | ||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||
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| Roster status: | Active | ||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics as of 2023 | |||||||||||
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Early life
editWalker attended Sandalwood High School in Jacksonville, Florida. He originally committed to the University of Alabama to play college football but changed to Florida State University.[1]
College career
editAs a true freshman at Florida State in 2013, Walker played in 12 games and made three starts. He finished the year with 18 tackles and one sack. As a sophomore in 2014 he played in all 14 games with 11 starts, recording 38 tackles and one sack.[2] As a junior in 2015, Walker started all 13 games, recording 58 tackles and 10.5 sacks.[3][4] During the first game of his senior season in 2016, he recorded 4.5 sacks.[5][6] On October 8, 2016, he sealed FSU's 7th win in a row against in-state rival Miami by blocking Miami's game tying PAT, known now as the "Block at the Rock".[7]
Professional career
editPre-draft
editWalker received an invitation to the NFL Combine, but chose to only perform the bench and produced 18 reps.[8] He participated at Florida State's Pro Day and completed all the combine drills. Walker said he didn't perform them at the combine because he wanted to have more time to get into better shape.[9] He was projected to be a second or third round pick by the majority of draft experts and analysts. Walker was ranked the 10th best defensive end by NFLDraftScout.com, the 15th best defensive end by Sports Illustrated, and ranked the 11th best defensive end in the draft by ESPN.[10][11]
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft 3+5⁄8 in (1.92 m) |
280 lb (127 kg) |
33 in (0.84 m) |
10+1⁄2 in (0.27 m) |
4.88 s | 1.71 s | 2.85 s | 4.71 s | 7.91 s | 31+1⁄2 in (0.80 m) |
9 ft 7 in (2.92 m) |
20 reps | |
| All values from Florida State's Pro Day[8][12] | ||||||||||||
Denver Broncos
edit
The Denver Broncos selected Walker in the second round (51st overall) of the 2017 NFL draft.[13] On May 15, 2017, the Broncos signed Walker to a four-year, $5.07 million contract with $2.52 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of $1.83 million.[14]
On September 23, 2020, Walker was placed on injured reserve with a calf injury.[15] He was activated on October 24.[16]
Houston Texans
editWalker signed with the Houston Texans on April 16, 2021.[17] He was placed on injured reserve on December 4, 2021.[18] He was activated on December 25.
Tennessee Titans
editOn May 16, 2022, Walker signed with the Tennessee Titans.[19] In 2022, Walker played 17 games while starting in 6 of them record 32 tackles, 10 tackles for a loss, and 7 sacks.
Chicago Bears
editOn March 15, 2023, Walker signed a three-year, $21 million contract with the Chicago Bears.[20]
References
edit- ^ Ostendorf, Greg (August 24, 2012). "No. 3 DE recruit Walker to play LB at Alabama". ESPN.com. Retrieved October 19, 2023.
- ^ "Florida State Seminoles: End DeMarcus Walker emerging on defense".
- ^ Deen, Safid (August 23, 2016). "FSU defensive end DeMarcus Walker ready for extra attention in 2016". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved July 6, 2024.
- ^ "Florida State's DeMarcus Walker invokes Mamba, but created his own mode".
- ^ "Gene Frenette: FSU's DeMarcus Walker is the pass rusher with personality".
- ^ "Florida State DE DeMarcus Walker off to stellar start".
- ^ evenflow58 (October 9, 2016). "The Block at the Rock: The GIF that keeps on giving".
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ a b "NFL Player Profile: Demarcus Walker". nfl.com. Retrieved May 16, 2017.
- ^ Safid Deen (March 28, 2017). "FSU's DeMarcus Walker puts on a show during pro day outing". orlandosentinel.com. Retrieved May 16, 2017.
- ^ Chris Burke (April 24, 2017). "2017 NFL draft rankings: Top prospects by position". si.com. Retrieved May 16, 2017.
- ^ Jeff Legwold (April 22, 2017). "Ranking 2017 draft's top 100 players". ESPN.com. Retrieved May 16, 2017.
- ^ "Demarcus Walker, DS #10 DE, Florida State". nfldraftscout.com. Retrieved May 16, 2017.
- ^ DiLalla, Aric (April 28, 2017). "Broncos select DE DeMarcus Walker with second-round pick". DenverBroncos.com.
- ^ "Spotrac.com: DeMarcus Walker contract". spotrac.com. Retrieved May 16, 2017.
- ^ DiLalla, Aric (September 23, 2020). "Broncos place LB Mark Barron, DE DeMarcus Walker on IR". DenverBroncos.com.
- ^ DiLalla, Aric (October 24, 2020). "Broncos activate A.J. Bouye, Dre'Mont Jones, DeMarcus Walker from IR to active roster". DenverBroncos.com.
- ^ "Houston Texans Transactions (4-16-2021)". HoustonTexans.com. April 16, 2021. Retrieved April 16, 2021.
- ^ "Houston Texans Transactions (12-4-2021)". HoustonTexans.com. December 4, 2021.
- ^ Wyatt, Jim (May 16, 2022). "Titans Agree to Terms With Veteran DE DeMarcus Walker". TennesseeTitans.com.
- ^ Hajduk, Gabby (March 15, 2023). "Roster Move: Bears land free agent DE DeMarcus Walker". ChicagoBears.com.
External links
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