Most underrated off-season acquisition could be Daquan Jones

[wppete]

What a huge upgrade from Star. Daquan has been a star so far. 

[NewEra]

Such a great addition.  Initially, when I saw the price- I thought we may have overpaid considering he played for less in Carolina last year.  It seems I was wrong.  Money well spent.  A bargain if this level of play persists

[machine gun kelly]

No argument on DJ.  It’s the entire DL though.  It’s DJ, Settle, Phillips, Ed, Von, GROOT, boogie, Epenesa, and Shaq.   The 8 man rotation makes it impossible in the 3rd quarter to deal with how fresh these guys are coming in, wave after wave.

 

It is one of the main reasons why this secondary has gone to then next level after being one of the top 2-3 in the league for the last five years.  We will end up the best defense in the nfl when it’s said and done.
 

 

Wheres all the knuckleheads who think Beane is avg at best as a GM?  Dingbats who don’t understand football.  He was well deserved as GM of the year just recently.

[atlbillsfan1975]

43 minutes ago, ScottLaw said:

A lot of people died on that Star hill 😅

When Star played well, and I know it was a handful of games, it changed the way the defense was able to operate. 
I don’t hear media guys talk about it much (if ever), but a good 1 tech really is the heart of this D. At least that’s my perception. I could be totally wrong. 

Edited October 18, 2022 by atlbillsfan1975

[billsfan89]

The Bills certainly attempted to address every issue the defense had in the off-season. The team needed a “war daddy” pass rusher they went out and got Von Miller. The team needed to be more athletic at the corner position they drafted Elam round one and they needed to be more stout up the middle they brought in Jones, Phillips and Settle. No stone unturned.

[TampaBillsJunkie]

Great thread and great responses. I am in total agreement. I love this DL top to bottom and Star was my whipping boy because he sucked and had no heart for the game. This DL is hungry and Von is the spoon that feeds them. Daquan has been excellent and everything I wished upon a Star. Our LB's and DB's are much better because of the greatness up front. 

[WideNine]

2 hours ago, hondo in seattle said:

DaQuan was a great signing.

 

Tim Settle, on the other hand, is in the wrong quadrant of this chart.  

 

 

I expected more from Tim as well, but he has not been 100%.

 

He's been playing with nagging injury like Phillips and Oliver. I think they are all quality impact players when healthy.

 

The scary thing for this already very good defense is that they are getting healthier and have a bye week...

 

Welcome back Tre too.

 

 

 

DaQuan has been playing outstanding.

 

 

 

[bobobonators]

3 minutes ago, WideNine said:

 

 

I expected more from Tim as well, but he has not been 100%.

 

He's been playing with nagging injury like Phillips and Oliver. I think they are all quality impact players when healthy.

 

The scary thing for this already very good defense is that they are getting healthier and have a bye week...

 

Welcome back Tre too.

 

 

 

DaQuan has been playing outstanding.

 

 

 

Couldn’t agree more. Glad we are at the bye hopefully players like Tim and Oliver can get close to 100%

[TFBillsfan]

I mentioned DaQuan in the Chiefs postgame thread. He’s been a stud thus far. Major upgrade over what we hoped Star would be. So excited to see what Settles, Ed and Jordan bring post bye assuming they can get back to 100%. Both Ed and Jordan are disrupters when healthy which makes Miller and Rousseau even more lethal! 
 

D looks in great shape for the foreseeable future!

Edited October 19, 2022 by TFBillsfan

[BigAl2526]

3 hours ago, hemma said:

78% double team rate is just brutal.

He has to be one tough sob just to get out of bed the next day.

Of course, that 78% double team rate means that most of the time a player is not available to help block at another position, say defensive end, where Von Miller and Greg Rousseau are racking up a healthy number of sacks.

[Thurman#1]

3 hours ago, YoloinOhio said:

 

 

 

78% double teams? Holy undynamic duos, Batman!

 

That's extremely impressive. Already knew he was doing a great job, but this just makes it even clearer.

 

 

[Big Turk]

Da'Quan was also 4th in the NFL for DT pass rush win rate at nearly 25% going into the Chiefs game as well...

 

He is doing it all for us. And doing it all at a very high level.

 

Was a huge stud for us while Phillips and Oliver were out multiple games.

Edited October 19, 2022 by Big Turk

[Thurman#1]

2 hours ago, atlbillsfan1975 said:

When Star played well, and I know it was a handful of games, it changed the way the defense was able to operate. 
I don’t hear media guys talk about it much (if ever), but a good 1 tech really is the heart of this D. At least that’s my perception. I could be totally wrong. 

 

 

Yeah, the first couple of years Star was very good. Not at rushing the passer, and not as good as Daquan but he was doing the job they needed done, space-eating, at a high level. He never rushed the passer the way that Da'Quan can, but he was a really effective at absorbing the blocks and handling double teams. He never attracted doubles at 78%, but he did draw a lot of them and handled them well.

 

He clearly lost something after that, got it back briefly when he lost weight, slowly became a bit less effective again, and then after COVID he was just a shell of himself. He just seemed to lose the motivation that's so absolutely necessary to do that thankless job and then COVID just gutted him.

 

Many on here refused to see how well Lotulelei was doing those first couple of years because they wanted the glory stats and the pass rush.

 

These days it's a lot easier to get guys to come to Buffalo than it was when they signed Star. 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 19, 2022 by Thurman#1

[Thurman#1]

3 hours ago, MarlinTheMagician said:

Couldn't agree more.  The beef in the middle - both Daquan and Jordan Phillips -- makes a huge difference.  And Shaq was a sneaky-good signing as he is very stout at end.

 

 

Yeah, Shaq has been effective at a low price, and Jordan Phillips has been playing much better against the run than he did the first time here. It seems that everyone loves being here and they really are getting the absolute best out of these guys. Settle is the only one who's not reaching or exceeding expectations. That may or may not be due to injury, we'll have to see.

[ganesh]

4 hours ago, DollaBills said:

Bills D line is championship tier. The depth is insane

And that should really help us come January and February.  You make teams like the Chiefs and Packers one dimensional and our defense will be unstoppable and with Josh at the helms......Go Bills !

[Da webster guy]

4 hours ago, DollaBills said:

Bills D line is championship tier. The depth is insane

:Yeah you can include Bryant in there too, he probably won us that Ravens game with his goal line smash that allowed Milano to stop the TD.

 

just Bryant, Jordan and DaQuan you could start a legit interior Dline

[YoloinOhio]

 

[YoloinOhio]

 

[TheFunPolice]

LOVE the DTs here!

 

I hope they keep Jordan Phillips around next year as well! I think Settle and Jones are here for a couple seasons already. 

 

Other than week 1, these guys haven't all been healthy. Imagine being able to field all of them at 100%. Almost not fair! 

Edited October 26, 2022 by TheFunPolice

[hemma]

I really hope Beane extends him next year.  Guy is extremely important to the D.

 

A lot of tough calls coming up for Beane.