Getty New York Jets defensive lineman Bryce Huff trying to make a play during an NFL game.
The New York Jets have a surplus of defensive linemen, but that shouldn’t prevent them from paying up for a budding superstar.
On “Badlands” a pair of Jets analysts argued and explained in vivid detail why Gang Green should give the bag to Bryce Huff.
“He is the Jets best edge rusher, I think by a comfortable margin,” Joe Caporoso stated on the podcast. “Bryce Huff is their best edge rusher, he needs a new contract, and he needs to be playing 70 to 80 percent of the snaps every week. He cannot be blocked. Huff and Quincy Williams who are flying around like missiles, those two guys have been the Jets best two players on defense so far this year.”
Huff signed a one-year restricted free agent tender for $4.3 million in 2023 and he’s scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent in 2024.
“There is not an excuse in the world of why he should not be extended by the Jets,” Connor Rogers emphatically stated. “He needs to be a Jet after this season. There is no world where it’s oh you drafted Will McDonald so you don’t have to pay Bryce Huff and you let Carl Lawson walk. No, that’s not this case at all. The case is that Jermaine Johnson is [a] strong handed power edge right now that can set the edge against the run while still figuring it out as a rusher. But McDonald and Johnson are your pass rushers of the future and Huff is your pass rusher of the now.”
I LOVED the Badlands love for #Jets pass rusher @Bryce55H this week! @JCaporoso called him the teams best EDGE rusher + ‘he can’t be blocked’ + @ConnorJRogers said there’s no excuse, he has to be given a fat extension + ‘Bryce Huff is your pass rusher of the now’ 📻 Badlands…
Jets Insider Details the Huff Contract Extension Situation
Rich Cimini of ESPN was asked about Huff potentially being extended on the “Flight Deck Podcast” on Wednesday October 4.
“Will they sign him? It’s going to be hard. He is going to get some money. In the offseason he quietly changed agents. He’s got the high-powered agent from CAA, Jimmy Sexton, who will get a lot of money for Bryce Huff in the offseason. Whether he’s on the Jets or another team, he’s hitting free agency in the offseason.”
Cimini said it would be a “mistake” to trade him. He called Huff a “really good player” and said the team “should” try to re-sign him and added that they do have the cap space to keep him here long-term.
Huff is 25 years of age and originally entered the league as an undrafted free agent back in 2020. The former Memphis product has become one of the best finds by general manager Joe Douglas during his tenure with the Jets.
The raw box score numbers this season don’t truly tell the impact that Huff has had. He only has four total tackles, four quarterback hits, and just one tackle for loss.
When you dive deeper into some of the next level analytics, they reveal a budding superstar in the Jets’ ranks.
“Since the start of the 2022 season, Bryce Huff has a higher-pressure percentage than Micah Parsons [of the Dallas Cowboys],” per Cimini.
Jets team reporter Ethan Greenberg highlighted that Huff is coming off of a career game versus the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 4.
Huff finished with new career highs in pressures (7) and pressure rate (38.9 percent). In addition, Huff is second in the league in PFF’s pass rush productivity only behind Parsons.
.@EGreenbergJets shared some JUICY stats on #Jets pass rusher @Bryce55H: coming off career highs in pressures (7) & pressure rate (38.9%) vs #Chiefs + Huff is 2nd in pass rush productivity only behind @MicahhParsons11 this season per @PFF ZOINKS 👀 🎥 @nyjets #TakeFlight @cghendy
Final Piece to the Huff Puzzle With the Jets Is More Playing Time
One of the top reasons Huff isn’t gaining the national attention he deserves is because of a restriction in playing time.
The talented pass rusher is only appearing in 28 percent of the defensive snaps so far this season. Over the first four years of his career, he has played 30 percent (2020), 51 percent (2021), 20 percent (2022), and the aforementioned 28 percent this season in 2023.
If Huff is dominating in a part time role the natural thought is with more playing time, he would garner even better statistics.
The Jets have been hesitant to pull the trigger on that through the first several years of his career, but the tide might be turning in that regard.
“He’s a guy obviously when we first got here, we thought of him as a third down specialist. A guy that went in and just burned an edge and that was his primary role,” Jets defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich explained.
“But the more he is in this system and the more we work with him, this is a guy I think he has the potential to play every single down. He’s a tremendous asset for us. However, you classify, it’s hard to classify if you’re a one, two, three, or four within our system because we rotate so heavily but we’re so fortunate to have this guy because he is an elite rusher. Now that he is starting to really develop his run defense, he’s a guy we can use on all downs.”