Eagles Defense Rebounds But There's Still One Massive Problem
The Philadelphia Eagles bounced back after an ugly loss on Monday Night Football to Kirk Cousins and the Atlanta Falcons a week ago. More importantly, the defense stepped up and held the high-scoring New Orleans Saints offense to just 12 points and 219 yards of total offense. There’s still one massive problem on the Eagles’ defense through the first three weeks of the season.
General manager Howie Roseman decided to trade All-Pro linebacker Haason Reddick to the New York Jets amid the disgruntled star seeking a new contract. The move has proven to be a good one as Reddick has held out of the Jets’ offseason programs, training camp, preseason, and now the regular season as he continues to seek a new contract.
The one problem with that entire situation is who Roseman brought in to replace Reddick. The Eagles signed 2020 undrafted free agent defensive end Bryce Huff to a massive three-year, $51.1 million contract in free agency.
Huff was a highly sought-after target for teams after a breakout season a year ago with the Jets in which he played in all 17 games and recorded a career-high 10 sacks, 29 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, and 21 quarterback hits. In comparison, Reddick had 11 sacks, 38 tackles, 13 tackles for loss and 23 quarterback hits in 17 starts for the Eagles in 2023. Roseman took a gamble on Huff who is four years younger than his predecessor.
Huff has been held almost without a stat through three games with his new team. The 26-year-old has one tackle and two missed tackles to start the season. His lone tackle came in a Week 1 victory over the Green Bay Packers in São Paulo, Brazil.
The Growing Concern
The main concern is if he can handle a higher number of snaps and still be productive. Huff played in 54 career games with the Jets and averaged 24.1 snaps per game. He’s already averaging 26.7 snaps per game with the Eagles in 2024 in the first three weeks. He’s been on the field for 44% of the Eagles’ defensive snaps so far this season which is the second-highest of his career when he logged 51% of the snaps in nine games in 2021.
Huff was on the field for 45% of the Eagles' defensive snaps in Week 1 and 52% of the snaps in Week 2. That number went down to 32% of the defensive snaps for a total of 18 plays in Week 3. Josh Sweat and 36-year-old Brandon Graham are receiving more snaps than the big-money defensive end. Second-year player Nolan Smith Jr. has played five fewer snaps than Huff through three games.
Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio and defensive line coach Clint Hurtt need to find a way to maximize Huff’s potential. A $51 million player shouldn’t be struggling as much as he has. He’s been a non-factor to this point and getting outplayed by everyone around him. Something needs to change quickly or else the Eagles will have made one massive mistake bringing Huff to Philadelphia.
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