Indianapolis Colts’ DeForest Buckner: ‘I Do Believe I’m Slept On’

Although considered among the NFL’s best defensive tackles, DeForest Buckner thinks he isn’t as highly regarded as he should be. The fifth-year pro is looking to make a convincing statement in his first season with the Indianapolis Colts.

INDIANAPOLIS — When the question is asked, DeForest Buckner smiles and then chuckles.

Yeah, it’s fair to say the Indianapolis Colts’ new defensive tackle thinks some people are “sleeping” on the player he has become.

Although regarded by most analysts as one of the NFL’s best at his position, Buckner suggested in a Friday Zoom video conference call that he hasn’t earned the respect that he deserves.

“Yeah, man, that’s been my entire career, though,” he said. “Every year, I come in and play with a chip on my shoulder. Even if the recognition doesn’t come, I let my play speak for itself. I put up the numbers over the past couple of years. I do believe I’m slept on.

“It’s all good. It just fuels the fire for me. It keeps me on my toes, it keeps me motivated to really get my name out there and prove myself in this league. Honestly, it’s only benefited me.”

Colts general manager Chris Ballard sure respects Buckner. The fourth-year team boss who has traded down in every NFL draft to stockpile picks stunningly parted with a first-round choice, the 13th overall, to acquire the All-Pro defensive tackle from San Francisco.

Then Ballard gave Buckner a four-year, $84-million extension, which makes the 26-year-old playmaker the NFL’s No. 2 highest-paid player at the position. Everybody knows No. 1, the L.A. Rams’ First-Team All-Pro Aaron Donald.

Buckner mentions how he made Second-Team All-Pro and not First Team last year. And his lone Pro Bowl honor in 2018 came after he was initially named an alternate. An elite player gets voted into that game.

So the Colts didn’t just add a great player at the three-technique spot, which demands shooting gaps and taking on double teams as an excellent pass rusher and run-stopper. They welcomed a guy who is motivated to make himself more known around the league.

He wants to be an elite player mentioned in the same breath as Donald.

When asked individual season goals, Buckner starts with the NFL single-season sack record, 22.5 set by the New York Giants’ Michael Strahan in 2001. Buckner has amassed 19.5 sacks in the past two seasons, including a career-high 12 in 2018, so he’s got some work to do if he’s going to flirt with the history books.

Since 2018, compared to other defensive tackles, he ranks third with 19.5 sacks, second with 78 tackles, third with 26 tackles for loss, and tied for fourth with 34 quarterback hits. 

He has 28.5 career sacks, but in perhaps a better testament to how he plays, Buckner has amassed 241 total tackles. He’s not just a pass rusher looking to get sacks. He prides himself in being an every-down player who doesn’t like to take any snaps off — he played in roughly 79 percent of the 49ers defensive snaps in 2019.

The ultimate goal, of course, is winning Super Bowl LV. He was quite impressive in Super Bowl LIV, getting 1.5 sacks against Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who was named MVP.

But he can’t help but be bitter about the 49ers failing to protect a 20-10 lead entering the fourth quarter, when the Chiefs scored three touchdowns for a 31-20 victory to hoist the Vince Lombardi Trophy.

“Coming in, being short last year, obviously it left a bad taste in my mouth,” Buckner said. “To play in that game, obviously not a lot of guys are able to make it to that game in their career, but also when you get there, you’ve got to make it count. I wasn’t able to make it count last year.

“I feel like we have the team to do it. We’ve just got to get it done.”

(Phillip B. Wilson has covered the Indianapolis Colts for more than two decades and authored the 2013 book 100 Things Colts Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die. He’s on Twitter @pwilson24, on Facebook at @allcoltswithphilb and @100thingscoltsfans, and his email is phillipbwilson24@yahoo.com.)