Being the dominating presence that he is, Indianapolis Colts defensive tackle DeForest Buckner is going to command the attention of opposing offensive lines. It’s natural given his talent.
It came to a point in the Week 1 loss against the Jacksonville Jaguars in which Buckner wasn’t seeing many winnable situations. A quick passing game in addition to being double-teamed constantly, Buckner couldn’t make the impact he wanted to in the opener.
And even when he wasn’t being doubled by the Jaguars interior, Buckner feels he needs to be more efficient in those one-on-one situations.
“It’s really just the details. Me personally also, I have to take advantage of the opportunities when I get those one-on-one rushes. Personally, I didn’t take advantage of them like I should have,” Buckner said Tuesday. “Also, he was able to scramble a little bit and also had some big throwing windows. We just have to be disciplined in our rush lanes.”
The Colts wound up with four sacks on the day, which is solid considering how quickly the Jaguars planned to get the ball out of Gardner Minshew’s hands.
Buckner detailed a specific mindset he feels he needs to have on every play that he’s trying to get into the backfield.
“I just need to go into the game knowing I’m getting the double, but also expecting each one is going to be a one-on-one opportunity,” said Buckner. “Being able to go in there and expecting one-on-ones – expecting yourself to get the one-on-one, then it won’t be a surprise. I just need to mentally keep that in mind.”
The Vikings offensive line only allowed two sacks during their Week 1 loss against the Packers so the Colts will have to find creative ways to get to the quarterback in Week 2.
The Colts need Buckner to live up to the contract and be a dominating force on the defensive line. He’s going to get plenty of double teams, which makes winning his one-on-one matchups that much more important.