Back with Saleh, Huff revitalized after '24 setback

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- For the amended portion of the past 5 months, caller San Francisco 49ers antiaircraft extremity Bryce Huff expected the Philadelphia Eagles to commercialized him.

Huff didn't cognize erstwhile it would hap oregon wherever helium would land, but arsenic helium continued moving retired and waiting, helium began hoping for a fewer imaginable destinations.

Included connected that abbreviated database was a reunion with antiaircraft coordinator Robert Saleh successful San Francisco. On May 30, Huff got his privation arsenic the Eagles traded him to the Niners for a conditional fifth-round prime successful the 2026 NFL draft.

"I had a fewer places successful caput that I decidedly was hoping to get traded," Huff, a sixth-year walk rusher, said Wednesday. "All I was doing was conscionable moving out, conscionable staying successful my regular arsenic champion arsenic possible. Waiting to perceive that call, and thankfully it was to San Francisco, due to the fact that I'm precise acquainted with this scheme."

Huff's commercialized from Philadelphia besides meant getting distant from a strategy that conscionable ne'er rather seemed to suit him arsenic good arsenic the 1 helium played successful nether Saleh successful New York from 2021 to 2023.

After a breakout '23 play with the Jets successful which helium posted a career-high 10 sacks and 68 pressures connected 312 pass-rush snaps -- bully for a 21.8% unit complaint that was the champion successful the NFL, according to Next Gen Stats -- Huff signed a three-year, $51 cardinal woody with the Eagles successful 2024 escaped agency.

But coordinator Vic Fangio's preferred antiaircraft strategy removed Huff from the hand-in-the-dirt, wide-9 method he'd played nether Saleh and asked him to basal up arsenic an extracurricular linebacker much often.

"If you're calved into a hand-in-the-ground defense, it's an accommodation play to crook yourself into a standup extracurricular linebacker relation and vice versa," 49ers antiaircraft enactment manager Kris Kocurek said. "It's not drawback your fingers and hey, spell to a antithetic scheme. And present you've chiefly been palmy passim your vocation with your manus successful the ungraded going vertical and present you're lasting up. It's a difference."

The effect was disappointing for each parties, arsenic Huff finished past play with 13 tackles and 2.5 sacks successful 12 games.

"I learned a batch astir myself passim that experience, but it conscionable didn't enactment retired astatine the extremity of the day," Huff said. "You unrecorded and you learn. All I absorption connected is what I'm doing close now, and that's being a 49er and doing everything I tin to assistance this squad win."

While Huff has been successful San Francisco for lone a small little than 2 weeks, helium has already made a beardown content upon jumping backmost into Saleh's defense. Huff isn't expected to go an every-down extremity other prima walk rusher Nick Bosa, but the squad has a intelligibly defined relation for him that centers connected rushing the passer.

San Francisco went done a important renovation successful the antiaircraft enactment country successful the offseason, cutting each 3 starters: tackles Javon Hargrave and Maliek Collins and extremity Leonard Floyd.

The 49ers rebuilt the antiaircraft enactment successful the draft, utilizing the 11th prime connected extremity Mykel Williams arsenic good arsenic second- and fourth-round selections connected tackles Alfred Collins and C.J. West. Williams is expected to triumph the starting occupation other Bosa but has the versatility to footwear wrong successful evident pass-rush situations, which would unfastened the doorway for Huff to bash what helium does best.

"I deliberation highly of him arsenic a walk rusher," Saleh said. "He wins astatine specified a precocious rate. A batch of times erstwhile you look astatine walk rushers, you look astatine sacks. Sacks are important, they extremity drives, and it's what yet gets these guys paid. But his disruption complaint successful getting the backmost disconnected the spot and the mode helium tin bash it. ... He wins truthful rapidly truthful often that coordinators person to relationship for his presence."

That benignant of speedy beingness is thing the Niners person been seeking for overmuch of the past 5 years. They've plugged successful a assortment of walk rushers specified arsenic Samson Ebukam, Drake Jackson and Floyd with varying degrees of success.

But nary has risen to the level of the borderline rusher who champion complemented Bosa successful his rookie play of 2019: Dee Ford. It's a sanction that manager Kyle Shanahan and near tackle Trent Williams some invoked unprompted connected Tuesday erstwhile asked astir Huff.

"When you speech astir conscionable getting disconnected the shot and however accelerated helium does it, helium volition beryllium our champion get-off-the-ball feline we've had since Dee Ford," Shanahan said. "It's bully to bushed tackles that mode but besides widens tackles to assistance with the wrong walk unreserved and things similar that, and helium affects the quarterback."

Huff doesn't caput the examination and noted Wednesday successful his archetypal league with Bay Area media that Saleh utilized to amusement him clips of Ford arsenic a template for what helium believed Huff could yet become.

The anticipation present is that a caller opening successful a acquainted strategy tin assistance Huff rediscover the look that turned him from undrafted escaped cause retired of Memphis successful 2020 to 2024's $51 cardinal man.

"I ever benignant person that [chip] connected my shoulders due to the fact that of however I came into the NFL," Huff said. "I can't hold to get backmost retired determination connected crippled days and get disconnected retired of my stance, get aft the quarterback, halt the run, conscionable beryllium violent. That's each I'm reasoning about."