The 49ers didn’t add a veteran starter to their offense or defense this offseason until they traded for Bryce Huff a couple weeks ago.
For months, the 49ers made it clear that they wanted to get younger and more cost-effective. Then they made one exception for Huff, who’s 27 and will cost the 49ers almost $8 million this season.
On Wednesday, I asked Saleh what Huff brings to the 49ers defense.
“Speed off the edge,” Saleh said. “I think highly of him as a pass rusher. I thought he was very productive, obviously with the Jets. He wins at such a high rate. A lot of times we look at pass rushers, we look at sacks, and sacks are important. They end drives, and it’s what ultimately gets these guys paid. But his disruption rate and getting the quarterback off the spot and the way he can do it now. He is a second effort pass rusher, but he wins so quickly so often that coordinators have to account for his presence on the field.”
TRANSLATION: Even if Huff doesn’t sack the quarterback, he creates pressure so quickly that he forces the quarterback to hold the ball and step up in the pocket. This allows Nick Bosa to sack the quarterback. They complement each other.
Huff originally was an undrafted free agent for the Jets. He didn’t produce much for the first three seasons of his career, but in Year 4 he recorded 10 sacks.
“He stuck to it,” Saleh said. “I think his first year, he is undrafted, came in as a linebacker. He was with the first regime, so credit to Greg Williams and Adam Gase and those guys, they’re the ones who found him. When we got into the building of the Jets, we kind of let him know that if he was going to make it, it was going to be as a defensive end. And so, he put on God, I want to say 20-plus pounds of muscle, probably more. He really reshaped his body and he just kept plugging away.
“Our first year he was having a really productive year. He got hurt. And then the second year we drafted a couple of guys. We got some free agents, but he kept showing up again. And our third year, which was the ‘23 year, he really came onto the scene. And to his credit, he was the D-End in the fourth quarter of the preseason games, if you go back and look at it, but it didn’t discourage him. He just kept going and going and going, and really just kicked the door down and took over that spot.”
Sounds like Huff will have a future with the 49ers as long as he plays like he did in New York.
