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As part of ESPN's league-wide search to find who league executives, scouts and coaches view as the top 10 at each positions in the league, three former Oregon Ducks found themselves on their respective positional rankings: quarterback Justin Herbert (No.
7), offensive tackle Penei Sewell (No.
1) and cornerback Christian Gonzalez (No.
3).
Last year, those three players also made the list and were joined by another former Duck in defensive tackle DeForest Buckner.
But this time around, Buckner just missed out on making the top 10 after coming in as the eighth-ranked defensive tackle in 2025.
Don't get it twisted, however, as the 6-foot-7, 295-pounder is still a dominant force in the middle of the Indianapolis Colts' defense, a place he's called home since 2020 after beginning his career with the San Francisco 49ers.
Instead, two simple factors resulted in Buckner being left off the list this year.
"The two-time All-Pro has struggled to stay on the field, playing only 22 games over the past two seasons," ESPN's Jeremy Fowler wrote.
"An NFL defensive line coach had this to say: 'No real drop-off in his play.
He's still elite -- just older and injured.'" In 2025, Buckner was forced to miss seven games due to a season-ending neck injury that required surgery.
His status for training camp is in question, though there's optimism that he'll be able to return to action prior to Week 1.
Despite the injury, the former Duck still notched four sacks, seven run stuffs and 47 tackles, solid numbers if prorated to a 17-game season.
During his ten-year career, Buckner has amassed 652 tackles, 71.5 sacks and 28 pass deflections undoubtedly a career worthy of a jersey retirement from the Colts.
Dropping out of the top ten rankings was going to happen at some points, as Buckner enters his age-32 season, but he's still a dominant force in Indianapolis.
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This article originally appeared on Ducks Wire: DeForest Buckner no longer considered top 10 DT, per league personnel.