Buffalo Bills: Why Quinton Jefferson was the Bills most underrated signing

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - DECEMBER 29: Defensive tackle Quinton Jefferson #99 of the Seattle Seahawks celebrates sacking quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo #10 (not pictured) of the San Francisco 49ers during the first quarter of the game at CenturyLink Field on December 29, 2019 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images)
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - DECEMBER 29: Defensive tackle Quinton Jefferson #99 of the Seattle Seahawks celebrates sacking quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo #10 (not pictured) of the San Francisco 49ers during the first quarter of the game at CenturyLink Field on December 29, 2019 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images) /
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Buffalo Bills
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA – NOVEMBER 24: Quinton Jefferson #99 of the Seattle Seahawks celebrates after making a tackle against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field on November 24, 2019 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /

Run Defense

Jefferson’s ability to play 3-tech and 5-tech will be a valuable tool to help strengthen the Buffalo Bills’ run defense. The Bills usually struggles against heavy offensive sets, so if they can line up Jefferson at the 5-tech to set the edge it should help their run defense a ton.

In the clip below, Jefferson is lined up at the 5-tech and makes easy work of the tight end to stop Joe Mixon.

Once again at the 5-tech, his great strength allows him to get through the left tackle, Jefferson gets his arm over the block to stop the Cincinnati running back again.

The reliability of Jefferson in the run game is a welcomed addition as stopping the run has been the only aspect of the Buffalo Bills’ defense that hasn’t been elite the last couple of years, and they were exposed last season versus the Philadelphia Eagles.

The difference between having the ability to put Jefferson and Epenesa as backups at 5-tech versus the run would be a huge improvement from Darryl Johnson, who was abysmal in stopping it last season.