Former Oregon Ducks great heads to Injured Reserve early in the 2024 NFL season
The Oregon Ducks have plenty of former athletes now playing on Sundays, and arguably the best among them is Colts' defensive tackle DeForest Buckner, who has had a great start to his career with the San Francisco 49ers and, most recently, Indianapolis. Buckner, the best playmaker on the Colts' defense, will be out for a minimum […]
The Oregon Ducks have plenty of former athletes now playing on Sundays, and arguably the best among them is Colts' defensive tackle DeForest Buckner, who has had a great start to his career with the San Francisco 49ers and, most recently, Indianapolis.
Buckner, the best playmaker on the Colts' defense, will be out for a minimum of four games after being places on Injured Reserve with a right high ankle sprain. Buckner will be eligible to return for the Colts' Week 7 matchup with the Miami Dolphins.
It's a horrible blow to a Colts defense that has already had a rough start to the season. The Colts have allowed a league-worst 474 rushing yards through just two weeks.
It's not incredibly common for defensive tackles to be near the top of the league in sacks, but Buckner has been exactly that. Since being selected by the 49ers in the seventh overall in the 2016 NFL Draft, Buckner ranks 13th in the NFL in total sacks with 62.5. Only Aaron Donald and Chris Jones have had more sacks from the defensive tackle position in that time than Buckner.
The former Duck got off to a slow start in college, only logging 3.5 sacks combined in his first two seasons, with a modest uptick to 4.0 sacks in his junior season. It was his senior season where Buckner burst onto the scene. In that 2015 season, Buckner had 83 combined tackles, 17 tackles for loss, 10.5 sacks, and five passes defended. He was the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year on his way to an early draft selection.
Since 2018, when Buckner recorded 12 sacks for the 49ers, he has recorded at least seven sacks every season. What makes Buckner so valuable is his added support in the run game.
Previously, we mentioned that he trails Jones and Donald for sacks by a defensive tackle since coming into the league. Since 2018, Buckner has the most total tackles for a defensive tackle at 249. Over the same timeframe, Donald had 190, and Jones had 150. Buckner is a super star on defense that rarely gets treated as one. His contributions will be sorely missed by a struggling 0-2 Colts squad that could see their season slip away from them in a hurry.
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