Defensive coordinator Robert Saleh's influence on the San Francisco 49ers roster was fully felt during the 2025 NFL Draft.
And it continues to be felt in post-draft fallout.
According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, the Niners are working with the Philadelphia Eagles toward finalizing a trade that would send edge rusher Bryce Huff over to the Bay Area for a mid-round pick:
That could go well, especially considering Huff's best season came in 2023 when both he and Saleh were with the New York Jets, resulting in 10 sacks and 21 quarterback hits.
But, San Francisco could find itself in trouble if it tasks the 27-year-old defensive end with much more than this one simple aspect.
49ers can't ask Bryce Huff to do much more than rush the passer
Saleh knows what he wants in defenders, and that influence should go over well in the 49ers' offseason plan of revitalizing the defensive line. Already, Saleh played a role in the Niners' pickup of Georgia defensive end Mykel Williams in Round 1 of the draft.
However, Huff's pending addition adds a new layer.
Williams is already a quality run defender who needs to hone his pass-rushing technique to truly unlock his potential. Huff, meanwhile, is almost exclusively the opposite: a solid pass-rusher who fully lacks the ability to be a three-down defender because of run-defense liabilities.
Indeed, Pro Football Focus graded Huff's run defense 102nd out of 112 qualifying edge defenders last season.
With seven missed tackles over the last two years, it seems best to simply deploy Huff as a third-down rotational pass-rushing specialist who'd potentially spell Williams if the rookie hasn't quite developed that array of pass-rush moves.
Anything more than that could spell plenty of problems for a San Francisco defense that sold out to upgrade its run defense during the offseason.
Fortunately, Saleh likely understands this, too, meaning his plan for Huff won't go beyond anything more than boasting another situational pass-rushing option, especially if it helps guard against Williams developing slowly on that front.
