Denver Broncos offseason pickup no. 3: DJ Jones, DL
One of the primary areas of concern going into the 2022 offseason for the Denver Broncos was the defensive line. The team traded away Shelby Harris in the deal to acquire Russell Wilson. Mike Purcell was coming off of an injury-plagued season. Because of some of the issues facing this team up front defensively, they went out and acquired one of the best run-stopping defensive linemen in the game in free agent DJ Jones.
Jones, formerly of the San Francisco 49ers, signed a three-year deal with the Broncos and was one of the team’s premier free agent signings. Pro Football Focus doesn’t seem to like Jones so far for the Broncos, but it’s time people stopped treating their subjective grades as gospel. The reality is, Jones has made a tremendous impact on the Broncos’ defensive front both against the run and pass.
Denver ended up being 19th in Pass Rush Win Rate at 39%.
— Robby (@Robby_NFL) September 15, 2022
2nd in Run Stop Win Rate at 38%.
18th in Pass Block Win Rate at 59%
18th in Run Block Win Rate at 70%.
Individually, Bradley Chubb comes in at 7th in PRWR, DJ Jones comes in at 1st at RSWR and Fleming 6th in OT RBWR.
Jones was good enough in Week 1 that Seahawks fans were celebrating on Twitter (hard to believe, I know) the fact that they weren’t going to have to see the defensive lineman again for a while after that game. Seahawks fans have seen plenty of DJ Jones during his time as a member of the 49ers and they got to see him Week 1 when the Broncos came to town. They’re sick of the guy.
Jones has been a force on the interior defensive line, showing off an impressive combination of strength, power, and quickness. It’s only a matter of time before some of his rushes result in sacks.