Vic Fangio on the early-season struggles of Bryce Huff originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
It has been just two games but Bryce Huff’s Eagles career has gotten off to a rough start.
A really rough start.
For now, though, the Eagles are sticking with him.
“Yeah, he’s still going to be the starter,” defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said.“But we’re mixing those guys in, as I know you know. And we’ll continue to do that.”
The 26-year-old Huff has played 62 snaps through two games. He has been getting picked on in the run game and hasn’t really generated any pressure as a pass rusher.
The only stat next to his name is one assist on a tackle in Week 1.
What has Fangio seen from Huff?
“He’s still learning how to play the total game and not just rush situations,” Fangio said. “But he’s working hard at it and we’re going to stick with him.”
During his four seasons with the Jets, Huff started just seven total games and was mostly used as a third-down specialist. He would come on the field and rush the passer. His role with the Eagles — after signing a three-year, $51 million deal this offseason — is different.
Because of the investment, the Eagles projected Huff into a starting role, which means learning to play against the run. While Huff has always claimed he was confident he could do it, Fangio has been honest about the learning curve.
Early in trading camp, Fangio gave a blunt assessment of where Huff was as a full-time player.
“Well, I think everybody thought he could, and knowing that the floor was just rush downs,” Fangio said on July 25. “But he’s taken the challenge on very well, and I do think he has the talent to do what we want him to do. It’s just he’s got get familiar with doing it. So, it will be a work in progress. Does he look like he can do it today? No. I do think eventually he will.”
Based on the tape Huff has put out in the first two weeks, he’s not quite there, which puts the Eagles in a difficult situation. They just paid Huff a top-20 edge rusher contract to be a full-time starter and he’s learning on the job. Do they stick with him in that role or scale things back? Fangio has to do whatever he thinks gives the Eagles the best chance to win each week.
What might be an even bigger problem is that Huff isn’t just struggling against the run. He’s also struggling to generate pass-rush, which was what we thought his floor would be. Huff is coming off a 10-sack season and the advanced metrics from his time with the Jets made the Eagles believe his production from the 2023 season wasn’t a fluke.
Through two games, Huff has been credited with just two hurries by ProFootballFocus. His win percentage of 6.7 is by far the lowest of the Eagles’ edge rushers, who also haven’t generated much pressure.
The one bright spot is that Huff’s get-off, which he was known for with the Jets, is still strong. His average time of 0.76 seconds is the fastest on the Eagles so far this year, according to NFL NextGen Stats. It also ranks in the top 10 among edge rushers along with some other heavy hitters.
Myles Garrett: 0.63
Trey Hendrickson: 0.69
Nick Bosa: 0.70
Maxx Crosby: 0.75
Will Anderson: 0.75
Tuli Tuipulotu: 0.75
Jonathan Greenard: 0.75
Bryce Huff: 0.76
Charles Harris: 0.76
Micah Parsons: 0.77
Despite that, things still aren’t going well for Huff and he’s feeling the pressure.
“Honestly, at this point in time, I’m trying to do everything I can to get home. I don’t care what it is,” Huff said after the loss on Monday night. “I’m going to talk to my coach, ‘We gotta make some s— at the end of the day.
“You do [feel] that pressure. I know what they brought me here for and I know what I’ve done in the past. So I’ve gotta figure out what I need to do as an individual and what we need to do as a unit to get that pressure. My whole focus is getting better and getting us to the point where we’re clicking and we’re getting home.”
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