2025 Indianapolis Colts roster preview: DT DeForest Buckner

With offseason programs now behind us, we will be getting a jump start on our training camp preview by going player-by-player through the Indianapolis Colts' 91-man roster.

Going alphabetically, up next is defensive tackle DeForest Buckner.

DeForest Buckner's profile

• Height: 6-7
• Weight: 295
• Age: 31
• NFL experience: 9 seasons
• College: Oregon
• No. 99

2024 Snap count totals

• Defense: 579
• Special teams: 4

2024 PFF grades

• Defense: 81.9

2024 Season Review

Following the Colts' Week 2 matchup last season with the Green Bay Packers, Buckner was placed on injured reserve with an ankle injury that kept him sidelined until Week 8.

However, upon his return, Buckner was once again incredibly disruptive. Despite missing five games, he was still third on the Colts in quarterback pressures.

League-wide, compared to his position group, Buckner ranked seventh in PFF's pass rush win rate, 12th in pass rush productivity, and ninth in run-stop rate.

Looking ahead to the 2025 season

Buckner, along with Grover Stewart, will continue to lead this Colts' defensive tackle group and the defense as a whole this season.

When a defensive line has a player of Buckner's caliber in the middle, it's not only his own stat sheet that he stuffs, but his presence makes everyone around him better through the attention he draws, the steady push he generates, and the mismatches he helps create.

A prime example of this was noted last season by The Athletic's James Boyd. Through nine games in 2024, three and some change of which that Buckner played in, the Colts' cumulative pressure rate as a defense was 44.4% when Buckner was on the field versus just 30.4% when he was off the field.

The DeForest Buckner effect, as we know, is very real and doesn't only include his own production.