Jets stuck in dilemma of their own making with Bryce Huff

Bryce Huff is the player every general manager dreams of.

Undrafted: Discovered as a testament to your scouting department. Developed: A result of your coaches and their system. Now a star: A win that trumps first-round success stories because he is one that you, and few others, believed in — belief now paid off.

You invest in players like Huff. You make them franchise cornerstones.

Yet here the Jets are with the possibility of losing him growing more real by the day.

And they have only themselves to blame as this dilemma is one of their own making.

It’s not that the Jets don’t want Huff back. That’s silly. He’s been one of the league’s most productive pass rushers over the last two years. Huff was at his best in 2023 — his contract year. He finished with 10 sacks (previous career high was 3.5) and 21 quarterback hits (previous high was 10). Maybe most impressive: A pressure percentage of 21.8, better than that of Micah Parsons (21.3), Nick Bosa (17.1) and Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett (17.0).

And he did it playing under 45 percent of his team’s snaps.

There are concerns about Huff’s ability to play the run, among the reasons he only plays situationally. His size (6-foot-3, 255 pounds) the primary reason for that and why he wasn’t drafted in 2020. That’s justified. He finished with a ProFootballFocus run defensive grade of 48.0 last year — not good. He’s had a grade better than that just once (64.9 in 2022).

That simply doesn’t matter.

This is a pass-first league. There are few in the league as disruptive as Huff. His skills are why he’ll be among the most coveted players in free agency. A team will compensate him handsomely. One agent told SNY that he believes Huff could sign a three-year deal worth near $15 million annually with close to $30 million guaranteed. Those numbers could increase dramatically if there’s a bidding war, as tends to happen with edge rushers.

It’s deserved. The Jets should be the ones handing it…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/jets-stuck-dilemma-own-making-212449776.html

Author : SNY

Publish date : 2024-02-20 21:24:49

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