Wisconsin G Dan Buenning started 48 games in four seasons
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers began the second day of the 2005 NFL Draft the same way they ended the first, by finding young help for the offensive line.
With the sixth pick of the fourth round, which began at 11:00 a.m. on Sunday morning, the Buccaneers selected Dan Buenning, the sizeable and experienced guard from Wisconsin. Near the end of an 11-hour Saturday, Tampa Bay drafted North Carolina State tackle Chris Colmer with their second third-round pick.
Buenning, a Green Bay native, went to Wisconsin in 2000 and, after a redshirt season, stepped immediately into the starting lineup. He went on to play in 50 games and start 48, including 35 in a row. Only Chris McIntosh and Bill Ferrario, two other Badger linemen who went on to play in the NFL, started more games at Wisconsin, with 50 each.
The 6-4, 320-pound Buenning is a powerful straight-line blocker and has the agility to pull and block on the move. Like all of the Buccaneers' first-day picks, he is an every-down, highly competitive sort of player. Also, like three of Tampa Bay's first-day selections, he should offer help to the team's running game, which was a top area of concern heading into the 2005 offseason.
As a senior last year, Buenning was an All-Big Ten first-team selection, as well as a second-team All-American, as named by the Associated Press. A team captain for the Badgers, he started every game at left guard and helped the offense compile 160.9 rushing yards per game. Buenning also excelled in pass protection, as the Badgers allowed only 20 sacks. Wisconsin coaches credited him with 81 knockdown blocks.
Buenning also started every game at left guard in 2003, helping Wisconsin rack up 394.9 yards per game and score a total of 45 touchdowns. He did miss one of the Badgers' 13 games in 2002, but still helped Wisconsin score 47 touchdowns. In 2001, he was the first Wisconsin offensive lineman to start every game as a freshman since Ferrario.
Buenning was the first of eight picks the Buccaneers will make on Sunday, barring trades. They own two picks in the fifth round, two in the sixth and three in the seventh. Tampa Bay's next pick is number 141 overall, early in the fifth round.
