The bulk of defensive tackle DeForest Buckner’s new Indianapolis Colts teammates have only glimpsed him these last couple of months from their computer screens during Zoom sessions.
But in the quiet Indiana suburb where he, his wife Ashlyn and 7-month-old son Dominic just moved into their new home, “I feel like I’ve met half the neighborhood already,” Buckner says. He was welcomed at a block party and neighbors stopped by to drop off things. “What they say about people in the Midwest is true, my neighbors have been awesome.”
Buckner said, “I would say in my four years in the Bay Area (with the San Francisco 49ers), I met only two or three of my neighbors.”
But, then, even apart from his 6 feet, 7 inches and 300 pounds, the Waianae native is truly a big deal in “Colts Nation,” where his arrival is seen as one of the most important additions to a team that expects to win big in the NFL this season.
“There is definitely a win-now mentality,” Buckner said after arriving in a March trade from the 49ers. “You can sense it.”
The Colts picked up quarterback Philip Rivers as a free agent, drafted running back Jonathan Taylor and wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. among others. “It is a great mixture of a lot of talent in all three phases,” Buckner said. “It is definitely a big year that comes with a lot of expectations — and I’m excited.”
For a team that ranked 18th in scoring defense last year, Buckner was the biggest and, perhaps, most surprising pickup.
As a young (26), dominating force on the defensive line where he averaged seven sacks, 18.5 quarterback hits and 9.5 tackles for loss per season over the last four years and made the Pro Bowl, Buckner was a pillar in the 49ers rise from 2-14 to the Super Bowl.
But when San Francisco’s cap space quandary made Buckner available, the Colts pounced. They quickly agreed not only to give up the No. 13 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft but also anted up on a four-year, $84 million contract extension that makes him the second-highest paid interior defensive lineman in the NFL after the Rams’ Aaron Donald.
“What is amazing to me is what he has done in terms of play — the percentage, I mean we are talking about high-80s%, 90% of playing time,” Matt Eberflus, Colts defensive coordinator, told reporters. In four years with San Francisco, Buckner missed but one game and very few plays. “The guy just plays and he loves to play football.”
Nor is the Punahou and University of Oregon graduate burdened by the soaring expectations that accompany him at each stop. “Honesty, these are the same expectations they had for me in San Francisco,” Buckner said. “I don’t feel any pressure at all. Nothing to worry about since it is all the same expectations. In San Francisco they wanted me to be a leader, leading by example on the field, and I was. They wanted me to to try and make my teammates jobs (on defense) easier and that’s what I did. Coming into Indy, I just want to be myself. I mean, it is nothing that I’m not (already) used to.”
As the likelihood of training camp with his new team nears, Buckner said, “I’m just looking forward to meeting the guys and getting the season rolling.”
After all, he is seemingly well on his way to meeting everybody else.
Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.
