Vic Fangio didn’t lie last week when he said Bryce Huff was still a starter.
Huff did start the game against the Saints.
But he’s clearly behind in the pecking order these days. And he played just 18 snaps out of 56 in the Eagles’ 15-12 win in New Orleans, while 36-year-old Brandon Graham played 35.
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Here’s the breakdown of snap counts from the Eagles’ edge rushers:
Brandon Graham: 35 snaps (62%)
Josh Sweat: 34 snaps (61%)
Nolan Smith: 21 snaps (38%)
Bryce Huff: 18 saps (32%)
It might not be ideal to play the veteran in his 15th and final season as much as the Eagles have early in this season but Graham is playing really well. He didn’t light up the stat sheet on Sunday (2 tackles, 1 QB hit) but Graham was really disruptive against the pass and run. Graham and Sweat had pressure on the final Derek Carr pass that was picked off by Reed Blankenship.
At this point, he is simply the Eagles’ better option over Huff. Huff was primarily a pass-rush specialist with the Jets and he looks lost against the run so far with the Eagles. What might be a bigger problem is that he's struggling to generate pressure on quarterbacks too.
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It’s clear that in this game, the Eagles scaled back Huff’s workload, especially on run downs. Here are some numbers from ProFootballFocus:
Brandon Graham: 20 snaps in run defense, 14 pass rush snaps, 1 coverage snap
Bryce Huff: 5 snaps in run defense, 13 pass rush snaps
This is the second consecutive game for Huff without showing up in the stat sheet. In Week 1, he had one assist on a tackle. So he has now played 80 snaps in the 2023 season after signing a three-year, $51 million contract and has almost nothing to show so far.
It’s still very early in the season so maybe Huff turns it around. He really did have 10 sacks last year with the Jets. But, for now, the Eagles have to keep relying on Graham and hope that Huff starts to do something with his more limited opportunities.
Other defensive notes
• Reed Blankenship, C.J. Gardner-Johnson, Zack Baun and Quinyon Mitchell played all 56 snaps on defense, while Nakobe Dean played 55.
• Jalen Carter was the Eagles’ player of the game. He was extremely disruptive and played 50 of 56 snaps (89%), which is a lot for a defensive tackle. That’s the highest percentage for an Eagles’ DT since Fletcher Cox played 93.7% against the Cowboys in Week 8 of the 2020 season.
At DT, Carter was followed by Milton Williams (37 snaps), Jordan Davis (29), Moro Ojomo (16) and Thomas Booker (10).
• Darius Slay played 47 snaps before getting hurt on a late hit from Saints offensive tackle Trevor Penning. He was replaced by Kelee Ringo, who played the final 11.
Offensive notes
• Jalen Hurts, Jordan Mailata, Landon Dickerson and Cam Jurgens played all 72 of the Eagles’ offensive snaps.
• Mekhi Becton made it just 14 snaps before injuring his finger and Lane Johnson played 18 before suffering a concussion. Tyler Steen filled in for Becton and played 58 snaps, while Fred Johnson filled in for Lane Johnson and played 54. Both backups performed well.
• Without A.J. Brown, the Eagles were already in a tough spot and then DeVonta Smith suffered a concussion and Britain Covey suffered a shoulder injury. The Eagles were down to three receivers by game’s end. Here’s how the WR snaps ended: Jahan Dotson (63), Smith (55), Parris Campbell (36), Johnny Wilson (24), Britain Covey (7).
• At running back, Saquon Barkley had a huge day with 147 rushing yards. He played 58 of 72 snaps. Kenny Gainwell played the other 14, while Will Shipley didn’t see the field.
• At tight end, Dallas Goedert had a career game with 170 receiving yards and played 62 of 72 snaps. He was followed by Grant Calcaterra (27) and Jack Stoll (13). Stoll made his 2024 debut in this game as a practice squad elevation.
• One last note: If you’re an Eagles fan, you want to see Blankenship show up in the Eagles’ snap counts. He’s the deep guy in the victory formation. So he was out there for three offensive snaps. (In case there’s a fumble, you need someone who can tackle.)
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