THE 49ers of San Francisco Did not abandon almost as much in a business for the defensive winger Bryce Huff as for the defensive winger Dee Ford in 2019. Head coach Kyle Shanahan hopes that Huff will have a similar impact.
Shanahan invoked Ford on Tuesday when he discussed how Huff could help their defense after being acquired from the Eagles of Philadelphia for a conditional choice of fifth round in the draft of the NFL 2026.
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“I just like Bryce. I think he affects the quarter-Arrière,” said Shanahan at a press conference. “When you talk about getting out of the ball and the speed at which he does. He will be our best of our ball doors that we have had since Dee Ford. So, in terms of this, it is good to beat the plated in this way, but also widens the plated to help with the inward rush and things like that and that it affects the quarter.”
The injuries finally derailed Ford and prevented him from reaching his ceiling as a player, but his impact on the rush towards the 49ers pass during the 2019 season was undeniable. That year, he collected only 252 snaps of pass racing, but generated 33 pressures and eight bags in 14 games, including the playoffs according to Pro Football Focus. His presence also helped the defensive platform Arik Armstead after a career summit of 10.0. DT Deforest Buckner added 7.5 bags from the inside, and the recruit of Nick Bosa accumulated 9.0 bags en route to a defensive campaign of the year.
There is a key difference between Ford and Huff when they arrived in San Francisco. Ford was acquired in 2019 for a second round choice in the NFL 2020 draft. He also came from the best season of his career. Huff was acquired for a choice of day 3 after having fought in its only season with the Eagles. Huff joined the Eagles after the best season in his career in 2023 when he had 10.0 bags for the New York Jets, then head coach Robert Saleh. Shanahan is optimistic, the 49ers with Saleh because their defensive coordinator offer a better adjustment of the scheme that will unlock what Huff discovered in 2023. “I do not think, he did not play as much. I think he sat for a certain number of games. I think that the player has not changed. Base of three four years and that is something that we are never doing.
“I just think the player has not changed,” said Shanahan. “It did not correspond as well to their diagram, and what they do schematically and stuff. I think they wanted to go in a different direction with things, their external guys fall into the cover and things like that, being the basis of three to four and it is something that we do not really do. So, it is a little different. But to look at it. him.
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It is a bet, but one of the 49ers had to do with such a thin defensive group. Huff gives them a real rusher at speed that can pin his ears in temporary situations to provide support in front of Bosa. If Huff intervenes and has a similar impact to Ford, it will give Saleh and the 49ers options in the way they can better affect the quarter-rearfronts with their redesigned defensive front.
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This article originally appeared on Niners Wire: Bryce Huff Trade: Kyle Shanahan on the reasons why the 49ers have exploited with the Eagles
