Philadelphia Eagles are paying pass rusher Bryce Huff full-time starter money after signing him to a three-year, $51.1 million contract in NFL free agency, but he's a part-time starter .
And after Huff logged a season-low 18 snaps in Week 3's win over the New Orleans Saints, defensive coordinator Vic Fangio doesn't see his workload changing anytime soon.
"Much the same as it has been," Fangio told reporters this week when asked about the plan on Huff moving forward. "He’ll be mixed in there along with the rest of the guys. We’ve got five guys dressed and we’re mixing four of them. It’s going to pretty much be the same, I think."
That's probably because Huff hasn't offered much for the Birds in the pass rush with zero solo tackles, one assisted tackle, zero tackles for loss, no sacks or forced fumbles, and no QB pressures in three games.
Instead, the Eagles are relying on 36-year-old Brandon Graham.
Graham played 35 snaps against the Saints and had two tackles and a QB hit. He's played a total of 90 snaps so far. Huff has played 76.
That's a lot of snaps for an older veteran on a farewell tou r. It's even been surprising for Fangio to see him hold up as well as he has.
"Personally, I didn’t have expectations one way or the other," Vangio admitted. "But as training camp wore on, I started telling him that ‘You’re not on a tour, and you’re going to play.’ And he’s played good."
The key to keeping Graham afloat has been spreading out his snap throughout the game.
"When you’re in the 30s, and if they are spread out a couple at a time rather than 12 in a row," Fangio said. "So I think the snap count is one thing, but how are they coming is more important. And he’s playing good. I don’t see him being tired. Just that he’s playing at that age is good. It’s rare. So I don’t know why we can’t expect more rare."
As for Huff, he still has a lot to prove.
However, it's only Week 4 so there's a chance we could see a big change. After all, he didn't pop off until the middle of last season with the New York Jets and went on to finish the year with a career-high 10 sacks, one pass breakup, 29 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, and 21 quarterback hits.
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