49ers believe Bryce Huff, ‘speed demon' with an undrafted motor, can be next Dee Ford

San Francisco Chronicle​

a day ago

Prior to Bryce Huff's 10-sack breakthrough with the New York Jets in 2023, he played well into fourth quarters during the preseason. In 2022, the Jets added multiple free agents and rookies at his position. And ahead of the 2021 season, Huff added 20-plus pounds of muscle just to secure his roster spot as a defensive end after entering the league in 2020 as a linebacker.
Robert Saleh, his head coach and defensive coordinator in New York, never saw Huff discouraged. He gladly played every preseason snap he could get in Year 4 as if he were still an undrafted rookie: 'If (Saleh) thinks I need to get these reps, I'm going to go out there and get these reps. I just keep it pushing.'
Often overlooked, Huff never let his ego stop him from earning his keep, which turned into the largest contract signed by an undrafted non-quarterback in NFL history. The Eagles made him a $51 million man and also tried to turn the pass-rushing specialist into a stand-up linebacker, before opting to trade him one year into his three-year deal.
The San Francisco 49ers — with Saleh back in place as defensive coordinator — were eager to pick up the pieces. Head coach Kyle Shanahan said Huff has the fastest get-off of any defensive end they've had since Dee Ford.
'The player didn't change,' Shanahan said of Huff's rough stint in Philadelphia, in which he collected 2.5 sacks. 'He just didn't fit as well in their scheme. … Their outside guys drop into coverage, being in a 3-4 base, and that's something we really never do.'
Huff played only 12 games and started six in his lone season with the Eagles, who won him a Super Bowl ring without his help. He fully expected to be traded this offseason, and now he's back with the coach who recognized his potential.
Years before Huff joined the double-digit sacks club, Saleh told him upon taking over as Jets head coach in 2021 that he would only make the team as an edge rusher. Huff originally joined the organization as an outside linebacker, the position he played for 14 games in the final year of the Adam Gase era. But he didn't hesitate to adapt. And he really couldn't afford not to, as an unproven second-year player.
In one offseason, Saleh saw Huff add more than 20 pounds of muscle to his 6-foot-3 frame. Then they turned on tape of Ford, whose six sacks complemented Nick Bosa during his Defensive Rookie of the Year campaign.
The 49ers made the Super Bowl that year.
'We did watch a lot of Dee Ford film in my earlier years in (Saleh's) scheme,' Huff said. 'He's definitely a guy I've watched a long time. … We have the same type of stride and that's just something that (Saleh) showed me so I could work on my timing with some of my moves.'
Having watched Huff the last couple of weeks in practices, All-Pro offensive tackle Trent Williams called him 'a speed demon off the edge' capable of being the bookend to Bosa that has eluded the 49ers since injuries escorted Ford into retirement.
'That guy that is going to require a running back or a chip opposite of Nick,' Williams said of the attention Huff will draw.
'He adds that Dee Ford effect they had in '19 that took them to the Super Bowl. One of the reasons we had a really, really good defense for those couple years is having that guy who can actually make that quarterback step up by getting a good jump off the ball and being able to bend the edge.'
Only so much can be gleaned from practices without pads. Huff, a full participant at the 49ers' mandatory minicamp this week, still ended every snap by sprinting to the ball. Defensive line coach Kris Kocurek expects as much of all players in his room. It's nothing new for Huff, who has long known that stopping short of the whistle could be the difference between a sack or a completion, an open-field tackle or a touchdown.
Saleh described him as a 'second-effort pass rusher.' All 32 NFL teams selected 255 players instead of Huff in the 2020 draft. His second effort got him through the door as a 'self-made man,' in Kocurek's words.
Huff didn't have much to say about his Eagles setback, apart from his excitement to 'get after the quarterback' all the same.
'He just kept going and going and going, and really just kicked the door down and made it,' Saleh said.