It was back on July 25, just the second day of training camp, when Vic Fangio was asked about Bryce Huff’s transition to becoming an every-down player.
The always-honest Fangio said that the Eagles thought Huff could, he said Huff was taking the challenge seriously and he said that Huff had the talent to do it.
But he ended his comment with this:
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“Does he look like he can do it today? No. I do think eventually he will.”
And that’s what a lot of people heard. At that moment, Huff wasn’t ready to be a true starting defensive end.
The good news for the Eagles is that on the second day of training camp they didn’t need Huff to be able to stuff the run on first down. But in less than a month when they play the Packers in Brazil, that will be a part of his job requirement.
So … are we there yet?
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On Monday, we got a progress report from Fangio on Huff.
“It's getting better,” Fangio said. “He's working very hard at it. He's very prideful in it. He's improving.”
Huff feels like he’s coming along too, especially against the run.
“I feel like I’m progressing well,” he said.
Huff on Tuesday explained that in this defense he’s being coached to stop the run differently than how he was asked to do in his first four years in the NFL with the Jets.
“Just having to see more and not just getting off the ball and running, head-butting,” Huff said. “I have to be more aware. I have to be more cognizant of the things that are happening around me.”
That’s one new element Huff has to learn. And he also has to learn how to drop in coverage, something he will be asked to do in Fangio’s scheme from time-to-time. At the public practice last Thursday, Huff nearly had an interception on Jalen Hurts after dropping and stepping in front of a route. So that seems to be going fairly well too.
It’s all just a learning process for Huff right now but that’s what training camp is for.
The Eagles were obviously confident that Huff would be able to make the transition from a part-time player in New York to a full-time player in Philly. They paid him. But before this offseason, they gained that confidence from watching Huff closely throughout the years.
Eagles edge rusher coach Jeremiah Washburn said the team’s pro personnel department has had eyes on Huff for a while. Washburn said he and Howie Roseman have been watching Huff for what feels like years.
“Now that he’s here, he’s more than we thought he was going to be,” Washburn said. “He’s really sudden, great instinct for the ball and he’s just a guy who can win in a short area, which is really hard to do.”
And Washburn thinks Huff is doing “really well” in the run game too.
“He was coached well with the Jets,” Washburn said, “so we already knew what we were going to get as far as a run player and he’s been able to carry that over as far as his aggressiveness, his hands, his violence. It’s been really good so far. Just to kind of echo what Vic said, it’s a day-by-day growth and we’re seeing it.”
It was obviously a bit of a projection when the Eagles gave Huff a three-year, $51.1 million contract this offseason. But the hope is that the Eagles will end up with a bargain on a player who is rapidly ascending.
With the Jets in 2023, Huff had a breakout season with 10 sacks but he had previously been atop the league in some advanced stats that indicated the sack numbers would follow. They did last season.
Of course, Huff’s success in recent years has come as a part-time player. The only seven starts in his career came back in 2021. Last season, Huff played a career-high in defensive snaps at 480. Both Eagles starters played over 800 last year.
How do the Eagles know if a player is ready for that big of a jump?
“Days like today,” Washburn said after one of the hottest practices of the summer. “These hidden days in camp of who’s producing. We’ve really kept an eye on day-by-day production and so far it’s been a lot of guys producing so far.”
Even though it’s not really fair to call it a 1-for-1 swap, Huff is clearly replacing Haason Reddick in the Eagles’ starting lineup. Reddick was extremely productive with 27 sacks in his two years with the Eagles.
Washburn said the Eagles have been stressing the importance of group rush this summer. Sure, they have to replace a bunch of production from Reddick — who was traded to the Jets — but it doesn’t have to be one guy. Washburn hopes everyone chips in.
Huff will be a big part of that. And it’s fair to be a little skeptical of the Eagles’ reliance on him to be a full-time player since he’s never done it before.
It’s possible the edge rushers, as a position group, might be an under-the-radar weakness on this Eagles’ defense. That certainly wouldn’t bode well for regular season success.
“I feel like there’s always doubters, regardless of if people think it’s the edge rushers or whatever it may be,” Huff said. “I feel like there’s always doubters. That’s something I’ve dealt with my entire career. I’ll handle it how I’ve handled everything else. Just coming out and working hard no matter what people are saying. Just coming out and putting my best product on the field on Sundays.”
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