This week's Classic Jurassic Meat-Eater Matchup features an opposing player who has been outstanding for a long time. Eight-year veteran DeForest Buckner, 6-foot-7, 295-pounds, is a defensive tackle/combo meat-eater with a wingspan of a Pterodactyl. By the way, Pterodactyls were meat-eaters).
Punching out 5.5 sacks, while being one of four defensive players with at least 5 sacks for the Colts, Buckner is, in my most humble opinion, the straw that stirs the drink in the hot pass rush that the Colts can hit you with. They can boast of 13 players with at least one sack.
With the thought that one of the best abilities is availability, Buckner has started 121 of 125 games throughout his career. Registering 58.5 sacks over the length of his eight years, with 26 PBU's and 154 quarterback hits and another 77 tackles for loss, you can plainly see Buckner is equally disruptive versus the pass or the run.
What makes Buckner so unusual are his long limbs, lanky build, and his bend-ability. By that I'm referring to his ability to bend and play with a low pad level despite his height. While not weighing as much as many of his contemporaries in the trenches, Buckner can take on the double teams and even split them on occasion because of his exceptional flexibility and excellent lower body strength and athleticism.
He uses his strong hands very well, and despite his height, he will line up over the center and play a zero-technique nose tackle with an ability to clog up the middle. He will play over the center and both guards, shading to a 3-technique and inside eye of the guard, thereby drawing double teams. And he's as hard to dig out as a tick on a hound. Because of his good feet and body posture in taking on offensive linemen, coupled with his long arms, he can disengage and get off single blocks.
Because of his height, Buckner is able to see over most offensive linemen and therefore he tracks running plays inside very well. Also, with those long limbs, passes over the middle on those check-down crossers can become problematic as evidenced by the 26 passes he's knocked down.
Buckner runs very well for a big man. He's got a good motor. He's quick enough to be the trailer on twist stunts, and he plays to the whistle. Surprisingly, he's an old-school bull rusher. He'll put his forehead into your chin and climb the body.
He's not one of those ghost-you guys, avoiding contact. Because he has such flexibility, he doesn't give the offensive linemen a solid chest to punch. He has a nice push-pull move and knows how to separate and go quarterback hunting.
Buckner looks to have good football IQ and knows how to "roll with the punch," and even align with forces that could be injurious to his body and take the sting out of a bad situation.
Hear me now, and believe me later, if the Steelers want to get back to running the ball efficiently, which I believe is going to be necessary to slugging out a win in Indy, it's going to start with getting hands on Buckner and doing whatever you can to keep him from taking over the trenches.
