Johnny Buchanan

Buchanan was born on July 25, 1999.[1] His father, John, played football at Rutgers, while his cousin Collin Olsen was a running back at FIU; his great uncle, Joe Auer, played in the National Football League (NFL) for the Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins and Atlanta Falcons, scoring a touchdown on the first play in the Dolphins' history.[2][3][4]

Buchanan grew up in Brick, New Jersey, and played freshman football at Brick Township High School before transferring to St. John Vianney High School.[1][5] He was a two-way player at St. John Vianney, seeing time at running back and linebacker, and was considered one of their most versatile players.[6] He followed the philosophy used by All-American East Carolina back Scott Harley, called "seek and destroy" – to "punish [the defenders] before they punish you."[7] Buchanan said, "when I played running back, some of the most fun plays were making a quick move and going 70-yards untouched – but something about running through somebody's face is unmatched – so really I had the same mentality on both sides of the ball: make my opponent pay for carrying the ball or trying to tackle me."[7] He studied players such as Ray Lewis, Brian Dawkins, Sean Taylor and Lawrence Taylor to improve his hitting style.[7]

As a junior at St. John Vianney in 2016, Buchanan totaled 140[note 1] tackles, placing eighth in the state, four sacks, two forced fumbles, two recoveries and two interceptions as he helped his school reach the playoff semifinals.[8][9] He additionally posted 433 rushing yards and 12 total touchdowns[note 2] on offense, being named first-team All-Shore, second-team All-State, All-Division, and the conference Defensive Player of the Year.[1][8]

Buchanan was named as a senior first-team All-State, All-Division, first-team All-Shore, All-Metro, the conference Defensive Player of the Year and the Class A Central Defensive Player of the Year.[1][10] On offense, he posted 1,393 yards off 152 attempts with 17 touchdowns, and defensively he recorded 121 tackles, three sacks and an interception.[note 3] While Buchanan was with St. John Vianney, they compiled an overall record of 31–3 and won the conference championship each year; he was twice their team captain and named their most valuable player.[1]

Buchanan received several offers to play college football, including from FCS teams Monmouth, Elon and Albany, but committed to Delaware after getting their offer on his birthday.[3] He spent his true freshman year, 2018, being mentored by Troy Reeder and Charles Bell while being a backup.[3] He appeared in ten games, none of which he started, and totaled seven tackles and one interception.[11] After both Reeder and Bell graduated in 2019, Buchanan was able to see more action.[3] He appeared in nine games, starting five, and made 47 tackles, additionally returning an interception against Stony Brook 33 yards for the only score of his career.[11][12]

In the 2020 season, played in spring of 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Buchanan started all eight games and recorded 42 tackles, placing second on the team, with one sack, helping them qualify for the playoffs.[1] He made at least three tackles in every game and was named first-team All-CAA Football after the season.[1][13] Buchanan appeared in all 11 games the following season, starting eight while leading the team with 81 tackles, including 5.5 for a loss, in addition to one forced fumble, one fumble recovery and a single interception.[1] After the year, he was selected second-team all-conference.[14]

After the firing of Danny Rocco in 2022, Buchanan entered the NCAA transfer portal, although he later decided to stay at Delaware.[5] In what would be his final season at the school, he totaled 150 tackles, leading the entire FCS, and was named first-team All-CAA as well as to seven All-America teams.[15] He also recorded 1.5 sacks, 8.5 TFLs, and one forced fumble with one recovered, being a finalist for the Buck Buchanan Award for best defensive player in the FCS.[15][16] Buchanan posted in five games over 15 tackles, including a team record-tying 23 tackles in their win over FBS opponent Navy, for which he was named the national defensive player of the week.[15][17][18]

Buchanan declared for the NFL Draft following the 2022 season, finishing his stint at Delaware with a total of 326 tackles, including 16.5 for a loss, 2.5 sacks, four pass breakups, three interceptions, and two forced fumbles with two fumble recoveries.[15][19]

Buchanan attended Delaware's pro day, at which he posted a 40-inch vertical jump, a 4.58 40-yard dash and 22 bench press repetitions.[20][21][22] Afterwards, he was invited to attend local pro days with the Philadelphia Eagles, New York Giants and New York Jets.[23] He was projected as either a late-round selection in the 2023 NFL Draft or a priority undrafted free agent.[23] Buchanan ended up going unselected in the draft.[24] He was afterwards invited to the rookie minicamp of the Pittsburgh Steelers.[25]