After enjoying a breakout 2023 NFL season on the Jets with then-New York head coach Robert Saleh, edge rusher Bryce Huff regressed with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2024.
Now, with the 49ers reportedly finalizing a trade to acquire Huff from the Eagles for a mid-round draft pick, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the defensive lineman’s Philadelphia teammate Brandon Graham offered some insight on Huff’s drop from a 10.5-sack season in New York to a 2.5-sack campaign with Philly last year.
“I just think with the Jets, it was just that defense, man,” Graham told the “Ross Tucker Podcast” on Friday. “I know what it’s like playing in that 4-3, wide-nine, go get it. Every play, it’s always stop the run on the way to the quarterback. That’s the slogan in that type of defense. I feel like it’s all scheme. I mean, I’ve seen different guys flourish in different systems, and then you see him get in another system [and] it’s different, and what they asked of [Huff] this year, it just wasn’t a great marriage, I would say.
“Because I know Huff can rush. I see him doing all that, but sometimes it’s just different with the type of scheme and what people ask of you and they want you to be able to do. And maybe it just wasn’t that for [Eagles defensive coordinator] Vic Fangio … I just know that [Huff’s] a baller, man, and hopefully for him, I want it to be a win for the team and a win for him. In this case, I’m going to be happy if it’s here or somebody somewhere else for him to be able to go show what he can do in these prime years for him.”
Huff will reunite with 49ers DC Saleh in the Bay once the trade becomes official, whose scheme he eventually thrived in at the end of his Jets tenure. He joins former NFL Defensive Player of the Year and All-Pro defensive end Nick Bosa on San Francisco’s D-line, along with 2025 draft picks Mykel Williams, Alfred Collins and C.J. West, after a mass exodus of 49ers defensive linemen in free agency this offseason.
While he wasn’t a fit in Philadelphia under Fangio, it’s certainly the 49ers’ hope that Huff can contribute to a pass rush that was lacking in its own right during the 2024 season.
With Saleh back in the Bay — as well as his emphasis on attacking the quarterback — Huff’s reported arrival could be just what the 49ers need.
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