Denver Broncos roster overview: Nose Tackle DJ Jones

Currently, DJ Jones has the third-largest salary cap for the Denver Broncos in 2024 at $12.96 million. Only Courtland Sutton and Garett Bolles are better. Jones signed a three-year, $30 million contract with Denver in 2022 and is in the final year of that contract with just $3 million in dead money on the deal.

position: DT

6-0, 305 lb (183 cm, 138 kg)

team: Denver Broncos

Born: January 19, 1995 in Greenville, SC (age: 29-202 days)

NFL experience: 8th season

college: East Mississippi CC, Mississippi

Weighted Career AV (100-95-…): 34 (total 3269 since 1960)

Draft: San Francisco 49ers in the 6th round (198th overall) of the 2017 NFL Draft.

Jones’ role with the Broncos in 2024

DJ was never able to replicate his last season with the 49ers where he had 10 TFL and 40 solo tackles. In fact, he had 17 total TFL in his final two seasons with the 49ers and only 8 in his first two seasons with the Broncos. Of course, stats can be very misleading for IDL players since they employ so many offensive linemen in their games so that the ILBs can make plays. However, DJ has not lived up to expectations in terms of his ability to be a top-notch run-stuffing DT. Here are his overall PFF grades by year

• 2017 – 56.5
• 2018 – 58.0
• 2019 – 67.8
• 2020 – 61.3
• 2021 – 73.2
• 2022 – 63.6
• 2023 – 56.2

This isn’t surprising, as many players have a career year before becoming free agents. Therefore, we can expect DJ to have his best year in Denver in 2024, that is, if he survives the pay cuts. He’s also reaching the age where IDL players lose their quickness. I should also point out that he was credited with three forced fumbles in 2023, which was a career high, and he led the team (five players forced two). In 2023, Jones also played 568 defensive snaps (54%), a career high, despite missing one game due to injury.

Since the IDL is a major weakness for the 2023 Broncos, who have struggled to stop the run, which is a League worst: 5.0 yards per run. This was the first time in a long time that the Broncos had the worst run defense in the league (oddly enough, the last time they ranked 30th out of 30 teams was in the 1997 season – when the Broncos won their first Super Bowl).

The 100 worst run defenses in NFL history since the merger all allowed 4.55 yards per carry or less. There are eight Bronco teams on the list.

The question for DJ Jones (and Vance Joseph) is whether the Broncos run defense will be as good as it was in 2022, the first season DJ Jones was on the team and the Broncos finished 11th in YPC allowed, or whether the 2024 run defense will be more like the 2023 run defense, which was the worst in the NFL.

DJ Jones can’t claim to be a great run stuffing defensive end and then play in the worst run defense in the league. Partly because run stuffers are cheap and easy to find, and elite run stuffers don’t play in the worst run defense in the league. Based on the results and costs, I could easily see DJ Jones looking for a new team on cut-down day. The Broncos already signed Malcolm Roach as a free agent and traded Jonathan Franklin-Myers. Both are pretty good against the run and significantly cheaper than DJ. The Broncos also have Eyioma Uwazurike (6-6, 318) back from suspension and the experienced Angelo Blackson (6-4, 320), both of whom are good against the run.