Bryce Huff is under pressure.
A breath in. A breath out. He opens his eyes.
He lays in a hyperbaric chamber like a transparent tomb.
A breath in. A breath out. His heavy chest heaves.
Pure oxygen filters through Huff’s lungs. Molecules waft beyond their usual carriers, the red blood cells, and due to the increased atmosphere, due to the intensity of a submarine five fathoms deep, directly dissolve into the plasmic river itself. The enriched blood rushes through Huff’s brain, his lymph nodes, his joints and organs — an entire bodily system being rejuvenated, being prepared to be tested beyond anything it’s endured before.
Huff closes his eyes. One more session. One more hour, and the high-profile signee will drive home from this nondescript office building in Bucks County. One more night, and the Eagles edge rusher will awake for the first week of his first regular season with his new team and notice the bruised thumb that’d gotten snagged on a teammate’s helmet during practice is no longer inflamed. It’d normally have nagged him for five days.
Funny. The very thing everyone expected Huff to feel after signing a three-year, $51.1 million contract with $34 million guaranteed had actually been his newest source of therapy for several months.
Pressure.
Huff turns. Nods. He knows what question’s coming.
Had Vic Fangio told him he’d needed to separate himself within his position group?
“No,” Huff says. “He hadn’t.”
It’s Sept. 12. The day before, Fangio, Philadelphia’s defensive coordinator, told reporters Huff needed to “separate himself from the other guys” to play more than 45 percent of the defense’s snaps — the lowest share of the four edge rushers who played in the Sao Paulo season-opener, a 34-29 win over the Green Bay Packers.
Nick Sirianni had shrugged when asked about Huff’s usage. But the head coach couldn’t deny it wasn’t the role Huff was signed to fulfill. Huff wasn’t yet the younger version of the veteran he replaced. Haason Reddick, 30, had wanted his own hefty contract. But general manager Howie Roseman traded Reddick to the New York Jets and instead bet on Huff, 26, to become more than the pass-rush specialist he’d been in East Rutherford.
Huff never had access to hyperbaric chambers with the Jets. He’d never needed the treatment. He’d never played more than 51 percent of defensive snaps in any of his four seasons. But he prepared his body for an increased workload after the Eagles secured what many teams coveted: a 6-3, 255-pound disrupter whose 10 sacks and 10 tackles for loss in 2023 suggested higher dividends for anyone who could afford to award him an expanded role.
The Eagles knew they were accepting a project. Their pro scouting department procures reports on active players, and Jeremiah Washburn, who coaches the team’s edge rushers, said in training camp it’d felt like he and Roseman had “been watching Bryce for three years.” They’d seen Huff twice sack Jalen Hurts last season as a hands-in-the-dirt rusher in a four-man front, and they believed Huff’s skills would translate as an outside linebacker who’d need to set the edge against the run within Fangio’s base 3-4 scheme.
“He was coached well with the Jets,” Washburn said then. “So, we kind of knew what we were already going to get as far as a run (defender). 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.”
Fangio was more forthcoming at the time.
“He’s taken the challenge on very well,” he’d said. “I do think he has the talent to do what we want him to do. It’s just he’s got to 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.”
That word — eventually — hung over a box score Huff first left blank in Brazil. He’d been absent in the backfield. He’d chased Packers on the perimeter who’d averaged 7.8 yards per rush. He’d spent more time on the sideline than on the field. Reddick played 74 percent of snaps in 2023. Bradley Chubb played 77 percent of snaps under Fangio in both Denver and Miami. When would Huff “separate” himself? What was it Huff was missing?
“As far as separating myself, he hasn’t given me any pointers on what he means by that,” Huff says. “All I can do is be myself, and what I’ve always done is work and do everything I can to help us win on game day.”
There, on the first play against the Saints, was Huff, bashing a blocker backward, forcing the rusher inside.
There, two plays later, was Huff, so consumed with bashing his blocker backward, that he’d neglected to contain the rusher, who bounced outside for an eight-yard gain on third-and-1.
“Yeah,” Fangio later confirmed. “He needed to hold the force on that play.”
As Huff’s development plays out publicly, Fangio and his staff are building defensive game plans around limitations that may become untenable. Huff still isn’t yet reliable against the run. So, to stop a successful Saints rushing attack, the Eagles instead leveraged veteran Brandon Graham’s ability to jam blockers within a 6-1 defensive front that held the Saints to 3.1 yards per rush. The Eagles have since deployed Huff almost exclusively in pass-oriented situations, the very role he’d been signed to transcend.
But by boxing Huff into predictable packages, the Eagles have made themselves vulnerable. On Sunday, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers rendered Huff’s 25 pass rushes harmless by getting the ball out quickly. It’s a trend that partly explains why Huff has yet to record a sack or quarterback hit. Opposing quarterbacks are firing the football faster against the Eagles (2.65 seconds) than against any other defense. Opponents are also sending extra blockers to chip Huff at a higher rate than all but seven other edge rushers (18.2 percent), according to Pro Football Focus.
“People ain’t seeing that,” Graham said. “You’ve got to see him winning his rushes, but… ball’s out. Ahhh, he finally gets there. Ball’s out. Finally gets stuck on one, and (the quarterback’s) holding the ball for the first time. Gets chipped and he probably could’ve beat (the blocker) but he thought (the quarterback) was going to throw it. It’s all mental. It’s all in your head sometimes. It’s like, ‘Dang, I should have just kept going, but something told me to stop.’ You got to keep playing the game, man. Keep playing and not worry about all that.”
Huff wouldn’t suggest such factors were an explanation for his lack of production.
“At the end of the day, it’s just ball,” Huff told The Athletic. “I’ve got to handle my business at the end of the day. My coaches are definitely helping me. But I don’t think it’s… The new adaptation… I don’t think it’s…” Huff paused. Hardened. “It’s really just ball for me. It’s going to show up. We work our asses off day in and day out. Weight room. Film room. It’s just a matter of time.”
The Eagles will be left in a precarious position at edge rusher if Huff’s “eventually” doesn’t arrive. Josh Sweat, the team’s most productive pass rusher (one sack, four quarterback hits), is playing in the final year of his contract, and it’s unclear how much Roseman will invest in Sweat entering his age-28 season. Nolan Smith, the No. 30 pick in 2023, is dealing with his own developmental deficiencies, and Jalyx Hunt, a third-round rookie, logged his first five defensive snaps against the Bucs on Sunday.
The circumstances are causing Graham to reconsider whether he’s truly going to retire after this season. Graham, 36, initially called his one-year, $5 million extension a “farewell tour.” But Graham said he’d partly defined it that way because he’d believed the organization agreed with the public perception that he couldn’t be productive beyond his 15th season. His snap share in 2023 (34 percent) had been his lowest since 2013. He’d hoped he could get one more year in Philadelphia.
But Fangio said he’s told Graham several times “he’s not on any ceremonial last-year retirement parade.” Graham’s snap share (48.7 percent) is second only to Sweat’s (59.8) in 2024, and Graham recorded his first sack and tackle for loss of the season against the Buccaneers. “He’s going to play,” Fangio said on Sept. 11. “He’s still playing good.”
Will Graham be back for another season?
“Well, let’s get through this one first,” Graham grinned. “I said either way I’m gonna be a part of whatever they’re doing next year. But, you know, as a player — who knows? But I know, for me, I just want to stay ready anyway as far as, you know, just being in shape. But I might stay ready another year depending on how everything goes this year.”
Graham is a franchise pillar. But any plan that requires him to delay retirement is a failing one. The front office has financed the position group’s future through Huff. The guarantees in his contract make it unfeasible to move him before 2026. Whether or not Huff’s slow start has more to do with scouting or scheme, the Eagles coaching staff must make the partnership work.
“I’ve got a lot of faith in Bryce and the things that he can do,” Sirianni said. “Obviously, that’s why he’s here. I’m excited for the time when he’s going to have a big-time game. I know he puts the work in. I know he’s ultra talented. I’ve got no doubt in my mind that he’s going to continue to get better and have a good impact on this football team.”
(Top photo of Bryce Huff: Mitchell Leff / Getty Images)
