Deep dive of Philadelphia’s new EDGE signing.

In case you somehow missed it, the Eagles agreed to terms with former New York Jets edge rusher Bryce Huff on Monday in a three-year deal worth a maximum of $51.1 million. I think my favorite articles I do all off-season are the free agency film reviews because I love getting to watch new players as well as look at different teams from last season. Huff is a fun player to watch, so this should be a fun read. As always, let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. Let’s go!

Stats

As always, I’m not the stats guy. So I’ll rely on people who are better than me!

• His defensive snaps (480) were almost half that of Sweat (828) and Reddick (862). This is a pretty extraordinary difference.
• 44% of his snaps last year were on 3rd down last year.
• Out of 88 qualifying EDGE defenders (with 200+ pass rush snaps), Huff ranked 86th in terms of snaps against the run. The film backed this up too, it just felt like he was never facing the run in the games I watched.
• He only played 13 snaps in coverage all season.

Strengths

+ His burst is what makes him stand out. Just watch him fly out of his stance every play. He is as explosive as it gets in the first 5 yards. His get-off really is elite. The film and numbers back this up.

+ He is not just a pass rusher who relies on speed and burst. He has a good pass-rushing plan and several different moves. He plays with really quick hands and can disengage from blockers. He has a lovely move where he can time a chop/rip move with a little jump.

+ He has a fantastic dip where he can get really low which makes it really tough for tackles to get a hand on him. Personally, I think his dip move is his elite trait and not his bend round the edge. He does have good flexibility and can bend the edge, but I think he wins by getting lower more often than not.

+ He has a really good speed-to-power rush where he can jolt offensive linemen and force them backward due to the power he generates because of his elite burst. He’s not a strong bull rusher in general, but he can knock linemen back into the quarterback due to the speed-to-power that he can generate.

+ He is a really strong finisher. Some defenders can get pressure but can’t turn that pressure into sacks. Huff is not one of them. He keeps his eyes on the quarterback at all times and seems to have a great feel for where the quarterback is. He’s very instinctive when rushing the quarterback.

+ He has the athleticism and short-area quickness to redirect quickly if needed. This also enables him to be an excellent finisher.

+ His pressure rate was outstanding last year and the year before. I’ve seen people say he is a 1-year wonder, but this isn’t true. He’s had an incredibly good pass rush win rate in both 2022 and 2023.

+ I think his 2023 film was much better against the run than I expected. I didn’t see a huge issue but he just wasn’t used much on run-downs, so it’s impossible to predict how he will handle a bigger workload. But when he was asked to it, he looked good enough to me.

Weaknesses

- No one knows how Huff will handle playing more snaps. He is going to play a bigger role for the Eagles, and he’s never done this in his career. Anyone who says he will handle a much bigger role without slowing down is simply guessing. The fact is that nobody at all, including Howie Roseman, knows what an increased snap count will do to his game. it’s a projection, end of.

- He wasn’t trusted on early downs to play often, and he’s clearly undersized for a standard EDGE defender. As I said above, I think he is fine against the run, but he just didn’t do it very much. He was a UDFA for a reason after all.

- I think he’s quick, rather than fast. I didn’t see elite long speed so I’m not sure how easily he can run down more mobile quarterbacks or chase down running backs from the backside.

- I didn’t see him drop into coverage that often in the games I watched. This is something he will probably be asked to do a lot more of when he lines up as an EDGE as part of a 5-man front. Then again, if the Eagles ask him to cover Barkley in man coverage, then they are idiots!

- He is often rushing the quarterback from a very wide angle because he is playing on passing downs. He will not be able to rush from that wide on early downs which could reduce his pressure success rate. It’s also worth noting that his pressure rate is really high, partly because he is always rushing the quarterback in obvious passing situations so he doesn’t need to respect the run.

- Because he rushes from such a wide angle, he can get caught upfield and give the quarterback an easy escape route at times.

- I think if he doesn't win early, he can get stuck and really struggle to disengage from linemen. However, there’s a part of me that doesn’t care hugely, because if you don’t win early in the NFL then the ball is coming out before you get there anyway. But I don’t see him as a clean up ‘coverage-sack’ kind of guy.

Overall

This is a fascinating signing because the film is really good but the Eagles are taking a risk on how Huff will handle more playing time. There is just no doubt about that.

I think I see Huff differently from a lot of Eagles fans that I have seen online. I actually have less of a worry about his run defense than many others. I think he has just enough size and strength to handle early-down snaps and let’s be honest, Haason Reddick has never been an outstanding run defender either. I think the biggest issue I have with Huff is whether he can keep up the explosiveness and the high-motor that he plays with if he has to handle double the amount of snaps. You can’t underestimated the impact that increased snaps can have on defensive plays. It’s easier for Huff to give 100% and look explosive when he is only being asked to rush the quarterback 15-20 times a game and play a few snaps against the run.

I do expect Huff to suffer slightly by playing more snaps, but I think the huge questions is how much. If he can still rush the passer with 95% of the same hustle and explosiveness, then he will be a fantastic signing. My only worry is what will happen if he loses a little bit of that burst, but I am hoping that will not be the case! The Eagles just need to hope he can maintain his high level when he plays more. Because make no mistake, he is a fantastic pass rusher.

I am really interested to see what happens next at the EDGE position. If you have a starting trio of Haason Reddick, Bryce Huff, and Nolan Smith then you are going to struggle against the run. That is a really light trio, so I would assume Huff is going to replace Reddick’s role in this team. But if he doesn’t, I am a little worried about how light the Eagles are in general. They are going to put a lot of pressure on the interior defensive line and linebackers (gulp) if they remain this light at EDGE. I also don’t think he’s the perfect fit for a Fangio’s defense as he hasn’t dropped into coverage that much in recent years. However, you would think that his size and athleticism will enable him to drop into coverage if he needs to occasionally. But he needs to be rushing the passer the vast majority of the time.

Whatever happens, Huff is going to improve the Eagles' pass rush and provide the Eagles with a pass rush specialist on passing downs. If he can become even more than that, then the Eagles have just signed a home-run talent. I am excited to watch him get after opposing quarterbacks next season, because he is such a fun player to watch.