DeMarcus Walker (born September 30, 1994) is an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Florida State Seminoles The Florida State Seminoles are the athletic teams representing Florida State University (FSU) located in Tallahassee, Florida. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I, prima ...

and was selected by the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

in the second round of the 2017 NFL draft.

Early life

Walker attended Sandalwood High School in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

. He originally committed to the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, the Capstone, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of ...

to play college football but changed to

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

College career

As a true freshman at Florida State in 2013, Walker played in 12 games and made three starts. He finished the year with 18

tackles Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position) A tackle is a playing position in American football. Historically, in the one-platoon system prevalent ...

and one

sack A sack usually refers to a rectangular-shaped bag. Sack may also refer to: Bags * Flour sack * Gunny sack * Hacky sack, sport * Money sack * Paper sack * Sleeping bag * Stuff sack * Knapsack Other uses * Bed, a slang term * Sack (band), ...

. As a sophomore in 2014 he played in all 14 games with 11 starts, recording 38 tackles and one sack. As a junior in 2015, Walker started all 13 games, recording 58 tackles and 10.5 sacks. During the first game of his senior season in 2016, he recorded 4.5 sacks. 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".

Professional career

Pre-draft

Walker received an invitation to the

NFL Combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Foot ...

, but chose to only perform the bench and produced 18 reps. He participated at Florida State's

Pro Day The NFL draft, officially known as the Annual Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the most common source of player recruitment in the National Football League. Each team is given a position in the drafting order in reve ...

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. 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 ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

'', and ranked the 11th best defensive end in the draft by

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

Denver Broncos

The

selected Walker in the second round (51st overall) of the 2017 NFL draft. 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. On September 23, 2020, Walker was placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in ...

with a calf injury. He was activated on October 24.

Houston Texans

Walker signed with the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team plays its home games at N ...

on April 16, 2021. He was placed on injured reserve on December 4. Walker was activated on December 25.

Tennessee Titans

On May 16, 2022, Walker signed with the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. They play the ...

. 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

On March 15, 2023, Walker signed a three-year, $21 million contract with the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

. In two seasons with the Bears, Walker started 29 games and had 7 sacks. On February 21, 2025, Walker was released by the Bears.

References

External links

Chicago Bears bioFlorida State Seminoles bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Demarcus 1994 births Living people Players of American football from Jacksonville, Florida American football defensive ends Sandalwood High School alumni Florida State Seminoles football players Denver Broncos players All-American college football players Houston Texans players 21st-century American sportsmen Tennessee Titans players Chicago Bears players Sigma Alpha Epsilon members