#11

Brandon Buckner

Senior linebacker for Middle Tennessee. 2025: 35 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks.

LB · Middle Tennessee · Sr. · #11

6′0″ · 248 lb · Charlotte, NC

CFB Index 63 · #176 of 583 LBsHigh confidenceReturning to Middle Tennessee for 2026

How he plays

Fills the run lane and blitzes off the edge.

Sacks: 95th percentile.

The full scouting read

The numbers

tackles · 2025

6.5 TFL · 4.5 sacks · 2 PBU

Best game: 7 tackles, 2.5 TFL, 2 sacks, at Western Kentucky

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 linebacker for Middle Tennessee. 2025: 35 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to Oregon in 2021.
Transferred from Oregon to Middle Tennessee in 2023.

His career, year by year

Brandon Buckner

LB · Middle Tennessee · Sr · #11

Fills the run lane and blitzes off the edge. Across four seasons and two programs, three head coaches: Bryan McClendon, Rick Stockstill and Derek Mason. One game to point at: 7 tackles, 2.5 TFL against Western Kentucky — Week 12, 2025.

Low coverage — composed from the verified record.

positional archetype classification
head-coach lineage
game log

2025 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2021Oregon10-4HC: Bryan McClendon · Run-leaning

2023Middle Tennessee4-8HC: Rick Stockstill · Balanced

2024Middle Tennessee3-9HC: Derek Mason · Pass-leaning

2025Middle Tennessee3-9HC: Derek Mason · Pass-leaning

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

63Quality starter #176 of 583?

High confidence6 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: sacks (95th percentile). Strength: tackles for loss (87th percentile).

Box-score production (6)

Sacks#136 / 2975 · 95th pct

4.5

Tackles for loss#340 / 2975 · 87th pct

6.5

Passes defended#777 / 2975 · 67th pct

Solo tackles#959 / 2975 · 67th pct

Tackles#1098 / 2975 · 62nd pct

QB hurries#1007 / 2975 · 55th pct

Percentiles are versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score production. There are no play-by-play efficiency bars here: CFBD's play-value model credits offensive players only, so no defensive EPA exists to rank.

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2025 season · 11 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home5g	3.0	0.3	0.3	0.4
Road6g	3.3	0.8	0.5	0.0

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-76g	3.3	0.5	0.3	0.0
Weeks 8+5g	3.0	0.7	0.5	0.4

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Derek Mason

Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.

Awards

Player standing · 2025

Rotational

Tackle volume for the position in rotation-piece range.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

63 · #176 of 583 LBs

Three-star recruit. Now #176 at the position.

2026 outlook

Outside shot for All-Conference USA

Based on 2025: #17 of 45 Conference USA LBs

How the All-Conference USA estimate is computed

22% estimated, 95% confidence interval 19–25%. Base rate measured from players who finished at a comparable rank in their conference and came back the next season. It is an estimate from a small sample, not a forecast of this player.

Career stats

Season	Team
2025	Middle Tennessee	35	21	6.5	4.5	2	--	--
2024	Middle Tennessee	37	18	4.0	3.0	--	--	--
2023	Middle Tennessee	6	3	1.0	1.0	2	--	--
2021	Oregon	5	3	1.0	0.0	--	--	--
Career		83	45	12.5	8.5	4	--	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 3 · 2025

W 14–13

at Nevada

5 TOT · 5 SOLO · 1 SACKS

A wire-to-wire battle — won by 1 on the road.

With A. Logan — 46 AVG · 2 IN 20 · 59 LONG · N. Vattiato — 247 yds · 1 TD · 1 INT · QBR 40.4 · 8 rush yds (13 car) · 1 TD

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 11 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	SACK	INT	PD	Note
Wk 1	L 14-34vs Austin Peay	4	2	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 2	L 10-42@ Wisconsin	3	2	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 3	W 14-13@ Nevada	5	5	2.0	1.0	—	0
Wk 4	L 28-42vs Marshall	5	4	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 5	L 16-24@ Kennesaw State	1	0	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 7	L 20-22vs Missouri State	2	1	1.0	1.0	—	0
Wk 9	L 28-31@ Delaware	2	0	0.5	0.0	—	0
Wk 11	L 30-56vs Florida International	4	2	0.5	0.5	—	1
Wk 12	L 26-42@ Western Kentucky	7	4	2.5	2.0	—	0	Season-high 7 tackles
Wk 13	W 31-17vs Sam Houston	0	0	0.0	0.0	—	1
Wk 14	W 31-24@ New Mexico State	2	1	0.0	0.0	—	0
Total		35	21	6.5	4.5	—	2

How he plays

Play style

Downhill striker who fills the run lane and blitzes off the edge.

CFB Index positional classification

Activity vs finishing · season enumeration

What the box score actually says

11 games

35Tackles

21Solo

6.5TFL

4.5Sacks

2Pass def.

0INT

35 tackles. 2 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 6.5 TFL.

Week 31 sack
Week 71 sack
Week 110.5 sacks · 1 PD
Week 122 sacks
Week 131 PD

Counts only, never a rate — splash-event sample sizes this small (interceptions, pass breakups, TFL) are noise as a rate and signal only as a tally.

2026 Outlook

Middle Tennessee

Preseason read · May 27

2026 Depth chart

Returning starter

Linebacker · Middle Tennessee

Returning around him

1 Middle Tennessee player drafted to NFL
Transfer portal: +2 net (20 in / 18 out)

2026 Award watch

No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)

Middle Tennessee · Last season: 3-9 · Talent rank #109 · 2026 recruiting class #119

DNA match

Player DNA

Thumper

Downhill striker who fills the run lane and blitzes off the edge.

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Ezekiel Noa’s 2022 season.

Ezekiel Noa

63%match

Boise State · 2022

All-Mountain West

Jesiah Pierre

Texas Tech · 2022

62%

Tyrin Bradley

West Virginia · 2023

61%

Darryl Peterson

Wisconsin · 2023

58%

Jett Bush

Texas · 2023

57%

Matches Ezekiel on

Tackle volume

TFL rate

Differs from Ezekiel on

Weight (higher)

Sack rate (higher)

PD rate (higher)

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a senior, his production profile tracks closest to Henry Bryant's senior season at Georgia State (2024).

Henry Bryant

80%match

Georgia State · 2024

All-Sun Belt

Jamil Muhammad

USC · 2023

75%

Kevon Darton

Syracuse · 2023

73%

Arden Walker

Colorado · 2024

70%

Max Michel

Buffalo · 2023

69%

Matches Henry on

Sack rate

Tackle volume

PD rate

Differs from Henry on

Weight (lower)

Player DNA

Players who play like Brandon Buckner

Stevie Bracey

Buffalo · 2026

70%

Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology

Brandon Buckner

20213 games

20235 games

2025 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

Rotational

Career stats

Signature game

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Thumper

Players who play like Brandon Buckner