It\u2019s way too early to sell stock on three-time Pro Bowler defensive tackle DeForest Buckner. <\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t![\"Indianapolis](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/USATSI_27309648-scaled.jpg\")
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tIndianapolis Colts defensive tackle Deforest Buckner (99) makes his way onto the field for warmups Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025, ahead of the game against the Arizona Cardinals at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMykal McEldowney\/IndyStar \/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images<\/p>\n
The Indianapolis Colts may have many questions going into the 2026 NFL season, but defensive tackle isn\u2019t one of them. At least, not if a key starter can remain healthy. <\/p>\n
Three-time Pro Bowler defensive tackle DeForest Buckner remains one of the best players on the Colts. And while the former All-Pro defensive tackle\u2019s career has taken a hit because of multiple injuries since the 2024 season, there is a good and simple reason to believe they\u2019re $46 million investment in him can pay off. <\/p>\n
Buckner is \u2018still elite\u2019<\/p>\n
Since the Colts signed Buckner to a two-year, $46 million extension in 2024, injuries have hit his career. Over the last couple of seasons, he has missed 12 games. Earlier this offseason, Buckner even considered retirement before deciding to return for his eleventh season in the NFL. His 2025 season ended with a season-ending neck surgery. <\/p>\n
Now that he\u2019s set to return, however, the question becomes how good will he be? Buckner wasn\u2019t in the Top 10 of the recent ESPN\u2019s position rankings<\/a>, which are put together by polling anonymous NFL scouts, coaches, and execs. <\/p>\n But he did get an honorable mention (meaning he got at least some Top 10 votes), and it was a telling one. <\/p>\n \u201cNo real drop-off in his play,\u201d said an anonymous NFL defensive line coach via insider Jeremy Fowler<\/a>. \u201cHe\u2019s still elite \u2014 just older and injured.\u201d<\/p>\n That is no small statement, and one the Colts need to be true. At least, the numbers back it up. Buckner averaged 3.6 pressures per game in 2025, very close to the 3.8 he averaged when he was named All-Pro in 2020. <\/p>\n He also finished the season with four sacks, which put him on pace for almost seven sacks in a full season. <\/p>\n Though Buckner\u2019s injuries have been very unfortunate over the last couple of seasons, if he\u2019s healthy, he should be his old self. That is easy said than done. <\/p>\n Next step: Being ready for Colts training camp<\/p>\n Buckner established early in the offseason his goal was to be ready to go for training camp. But the road there hasn\u2019t been an easy one. He revealed the first couple of weeks after his neck surgery, he couldn\u2019t even lift his kids up. <\/p>\n Buckner acknowledged he\u2019ll have to have a different approach, too. <\/p>\n \u201cThe way things are going,\u2019\u2019 Buckner said in May<\/a>, \u201cTechnique-wise I\u2019m going to have to change things here and there. But I think I\u2019ll be good.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n \t\t\t Indianapolis Colts News<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t ESPN has released its top-10 tight end rankings as voted on by NFL personnel, and it\u2019s safe to say that Indianapolis has a wildcard that will wreak havoc on the AFC South division for years to come.<\/p>\n Deforest Buckner<\/a> Indianapolis Colts<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s way too early to sell stock on three-time Pro Bowler defensive tackle DeForest Buckner. Indianapolis Colts defensive…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":950221,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2059],"tags":[2005,12158,7,2004,392,2381,6],"class_list":["post-950220","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-indianapolis-colts","tag-colts","tag-deforest-buckner","tag-football","tag-indianapolis","tag-indianapolis-colts","tag-indianapoliscolts","tag-nfl"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116949615164929381","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/950220","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=950220"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/950220\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/950221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=950220"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=950220"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=950220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Indianapolis](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/USATSI_27893964-200x200.jpg\")
\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tThe NFL just proved that the rest of the AFC South has a Colts problem that won\u2019t be going away anytime soon\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n