​One of the bigger surprises from the Buccaneers’ Week 1 loss to the Bengals was that after spending most of training camp and the preseason looking like one of Tampa Bay’s most disruptive pass rushers, David Walker didn’t receive a single defensive snap against Cincinnati. Walker was active and contributed on special teams, where he recorded a tackle, but he wasn’t used as a pass rusher despite the Bucs struggling to consistently get pressure on Joe Burrow.After missing his entire rookie season with a torn ACL, Walker quickly became one of the biggest stories of training camp. He consistently won his one-on-one reps and at one point was credited with a would-be sack in nine consecutive practices. Against the Jets, Walker created pressure that led to two Tampa Bay interceptions. He used a spin move to flush the quarterback out of the pocket on one and quickly won around the edge on another, forcing an early throw that Ayden Garnes returned for a touchdown. Walker continued to show that ability throughout the preseason and gave the Bucs another young pass rusher to be excited about alongside first-round pick Rueben Bain Jr. Todd Bowles even said before Week 1 that Tampa Bay had packages for Walker and expressed confidence in the depth of his outside linebacker group.None of those packages showed up against Cincinnati. The decision stood out even more because Tampa Bay’s pass rush wasn’t effective. The Bucs finished with only one sack, which came from rookie linebacker Josiah Trotter Jr. on a blitz. Burrow was hit six times but generally had enough time to operate, completing 25 of 35 passes for 254 yards. Bain also had a quiet debut, while the Bucs weren’t getting enough consistent pressure from their defensive front to make Burrow uncomfortable. That doesn’t mean Walker should suddenly be playing the majority of the defensive snaps. Tampa Bay has a crowded outside linebacker rotation with Bain, Yaya Diaby, Al-Quadin Muhammad, and Anthony Nelson all competing for opportunities. But after Walker spent the summer showing that rushing the passer could be one of his best ways to help this defense, it was difficult to understand why he was given zero opportunities to do it.This article originally appeared on Bucs Wire: David Walker sees zero defensive snaps in opener