Deone Ariel Bucannon (pronounced DAY-own) (born August 30, 1992) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He was selected by the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The ...

in the first round of the

2014 NFL draft The 2014 NFL draft was the 79th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players to the league. The draft, officially the "Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in New Y ...

. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Washington State Cougars The Washington State Cougars (known informally as the Cougs) are the sport, athletic teams that represent Washington State University. Located in Pullman, Washington, WSU is a member of the Pac-12 Conference in NCAA Division I. The athletic pr ...

. Originally drafted as a

safety Safety is the state of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings The word 'safety' entered the English language in the 1 ...

, Bucannon transitioned to play a hybrid safety-

role in the Cardinals's

3–4 defense In American football, the 3–4 defense is a common defensive alignment consisting of three down Defensive lineman, linemen and four linebackers. It is called a "base defense" because it will readily switch to other defensive alignments (such as ...

Early life

Bucannon attended

Vanden High School Vanden High School is a high school in Fairfield, California. It is in the Travis Unified School District and serves children from southern Vacaville, eastern Fairfield and Travis Air Force Base. This school serves grades 9-12. The school's m ...

Fairfield, California Fairfield is a city in and the county seat of Solano County, California, United States, in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), North Bay sub-region of the San Francisco Bay Area. The city has a diversified economy, with government, manufac ...

. As a senior, he recorded 107

tackles Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position) A tackle is a playing position in American football. Historically, in the one-platoon system prevalent ...

, including four sacks, and had two

interception In Ball game, ball-playing Competitive sport, competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for ...

s and two

fumble A fumble in gridiron football occurs when a player who has possession and control of the ball loses it before being downed (tackled), scoring, or going out of bounds. By rule, it is any act other than passing, kicking, punting, or successful h ...

recoveries. He also caught 20 passes for 264 yards and a

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

on offense, and led Vanden to the second round of the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division III playoffs. He garnered his second-straight SCAC Defensive Player of the Year honor, in addition to all-league and all-city honors. In his junior year, he totaled 140 tackles, three sacks, three interceptions and two fumble recoveries, winning his first Solano County Athletic Conference Player of the Year award and being named All-CIF Sac-Joaquin Section and City Defensive Player of the Year. Considered a three-star recruit by ''

Rivals.com Rivals.com (stylized as ''rivals'') is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was found ...

'', he was rated as the 45th best

prospect of his class.

College career

Bucannon attended

Washington State University Washington State University (WSU, or colloquially Wazzu) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Pullman, Washington, United States. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest Land-grant uni ...

from 2010 to 2013. As a senior in 2013, he was a First-team All-Pac-12 Conference and first-team

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

selection. He finished his career with 384 tackles and 15 interceptions.

Professional career

Pre-draft

Bucannon was considered one of the top safety prospects for the

Arizona Cardinals

2014

Bucannon was selected by the

as the 27th pick of the first round of the 2014 NFL draft. On June 5, 2014, he signed a four-year, $7.7 million contract with a $3.92 million signing bonus and $6.23 million guaranteed. The contract also included a fifth-year option. Bucannon began his first season starting as the

strong safety Safety (S), historically known as a safetyman, is a position in gridiron football on the defense. The safeties are defensive backs who line up ten to fifteen yards from the line of scrimmage. There are two variations of the position: the free sa ...

. On September 8, 2014, he earned his first career start in the season opener against the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team in the National Football League (NFL). The Chargers played in San Diego, California from 1961 until 2016, before relocating back to the Greater Los Angeles area, where the franch ...

and finished his first game with five tackles. During a Week 5 loss to the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

, he finished with a season-high seven solo tackles. In a 24–20 win over the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

on October 26, he recorded a season-high eight total tackles and a

pass deflection In American football, a pass deflected, also known as a pass deflection, a pass defended, a pass , a pass knockdown, or a pass breakup, is an incomplete pass that is caused by a defensive player. This is done by slapping or blocking the ball with ...

. On November 9, 2014, Bucannon, racked up five total tackles (four solo) and his first career sack in a 31–14 victory over the

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis, Missouri, from 1995 through the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, California, where the team had played ...

. After finishing the season 11–5, the Cardinals played the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The t ...

in a Wild-card game on January 3, 2015. In his first playoff game, he recorded six total tackles (five solo) and a pass deflection. During his rookie season, he finished with 83 total tackles, 66 solo tackles, two sacks, two pass deflections, and a forced fumbles in nine starts and 16 games. He was named to the PFWA All-Rookie Team. Throughout his first season, he split starts with veteran

Tony Jefferson Tony Lemar Jefferson Jr. (born January 27, 1992) is an American professional football safety for the Los Angeles Chargers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Oklahoma Sooners and signed with the Arizona Card ...

2015

With so many talented safeties on the Cardinals' roster, Bucannon was supposed to be used as a rotational or back-up strong safety for the 2015 NFL season. After inside linebacker

Sean Weatherspoon Franklin De'Sean Weatherspoon (born December 29, 1987) is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Missouri Tigers and was selected by the Atl ...

was injured during

training camp A training camp is an organized period in which military personnel or athletes participate in a rigorous and focused schedule of training in order to learn or improve skills. Athletes typically utilise training camps to prepare for upcoming events ...

, head coach

Bruce Arians Bruce Charles Arians (born October 3, 1952) is an American football executive and former coach in the National Football League (NFL). Since 2022, he has been a senior football consultant for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Arians was previously the h ...

asked Bucannon to make the switch to inside linebacker. Although undersized for a linebacker, Bucannon proved effective. He was listed as the "$LB" or Money linebacker on the Cardinal's

depth chart In sports, a depth chart, primarily in the United States, is used to show the placements of the starting players and the secondary players. Generally a starting player will be listed first or on top while a back-up will be listed below. Depth chart ...

. On October 11, 2015, Bucannon recorded a season-high 11 tackles (nine solo) in a 42–17 victory over the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

. Throughout the first six games, he led his team in tackles. On November 27, 2015, after a hit on

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...

wide receiver A. J. Green the previous game, Bucannon was fined $23,152 for a hit on a defenseless receiver. In a Week 10 game against the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The club entered the NFL a ...

, he earned his first sack of the season while also recording seven total tackles in a 39–32 victory. On December 20, 2015, Bucannon intercepted Eagles quarterback

Sam Bradford Samuel Jacob Bradford (born November 8, 1987) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback for nine seasons in the National Football League (NFL). Bradford attended Putnam City North High School, where he starred ...

and returned it for a 39-yard touchdown, marking the first touchdown in his career. He also finished the game with 11 tackles and a pass deflection in the Cardinal's 40–17 victory over Philadelphia. In 16 starts of 2015, Bucannon recorded 112 tackles, three sacks, two fumble recoveries, three forced fumbles, three passes defended, and an interception returned for a touchdown.

2016

Bucannon started 13 games in 2016, recording 91 tackles and four passes defensed before being placed on injured reserve on December 13, 2016 with an ankle injury.

2017

On April 26, 2017, the Cardinals picked up the fifth-year option on Bucannon's contract. On May 16, it was revealed that Bucannon underwent ankle surgery.

2018

In 2018, Bucannon played in 13 games with six starts, recording a career-low 38 tackles, one sack, and a forced fumble.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (first stint)

On March 13, 2019, Bucannon signed with the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...

on a one year $2.5 million contract. On October 9, 2019, he was released by the Buccaneers.

New York Giants

On October 22, 2019, Bucannon signed with the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

Atlanta Falcons

On May 26, 2020, Bucannon signed with the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

. On September 8, 2020, Bucannon was released and due to new

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

roster management rules, was re-signed to the practice squad the next day. He was released on September 29, 2020.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (second stint)

On January 6, 2021, Bucannon signed with the practice squad of the Buccaneers. He was elevated to the active roster on January 8 and January 16 for the team's wild card and divisional playoff games against the

Washington Football Team The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

and

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

, and reverted to the practice squad after each game. Bucannon was promoted to the active roster on January 19, 2021.

NFL career statistics

References

External links

Washington State Cougars bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bucannon, Deone 1992 births Living people American football safeties Arizona Cardinals players Atlanta Falcons players New York Giants players Players of American football from Fairfield, California Players of American football from Oakland, California Tampa Bay Buccaneers players Washington State Cougars football players American football linebackers