2025 OFFSEASON

[CrimsonCrew]

Anyone seeing this as in part a comment on their impression of Williams’ in camp, or just that his pass rush was always going to need development and this is just a way of having that tool at hand while he develops?

don't think so, by all accounts I've seen Mykel looks good and healthy, I think it has more to do with them probably realizing Jackson is cooked and we need a 4th rusher outside Bosa,Mykel,Yetur

im more worried about why the Eagles would trade him to us, if they think he's any good they'd probably ship him to the AFC?

Not sure if I'm reading this correctly, but they cut Jackson a couple weeks ago.

[CrimsonCrew]

Anyone seeing this as in part a comment on their impression of Williams’ in camp, or just that his pass rush was always going to need development and this is just a way of having that tool at hand while he develops?

don't think so, by all accounts I've seen Mykel looks good and healthy, I think it has more to do with them probably realizing Jackson is cooked and we need a 4th rusher outside Bosa,Mykel,Yetur

im more worried about why the Eagles would trade him to us, if they think he's any good they'd probably ship him to the AFC?

In division it matters but in conference it's less of a big deal since you're not always running into other conference teams. Not to mention even if Huff bounces back playing for the 9ers he's still not likely to be a 15+ sack guy and terrorize the league.

Hard to say what other offers they got and I'm sure because of the Saleh connection the 9ers were probably willing to give up more than other teams.

Huff had to agree to restructure his contact to make a trade viable for the Eagles. It's possible he was only willing to do that to get back to Saleh.

[clyde21]

Anyone seeing this as in part a comment on their impression of Williams’ in camp, or just that his pass rush was always going to need development and this is just a way of having that tool at hand while he develops?

don't think so, by all accounts I've seen Mykel looks good and healthy, I think it has more to do with them probably realizing Jackson is cooked and we need a 4th rusher outside Bosa,Mykel,Yetur

im more worried about why the Eagles would trade him to us, if they think he's any good they'd probably ship him to the AFC?

Not sure if I'm reading this correctly, but they cut Jackson a couple weeks ago.

yea completely missed that, but yea I don't think it has anything to do with Mykel either way, team needs at least 4 functioning pass rushers and Huff would be our 4th

[Jikkle]

One thing to keep in mind is that nothing is stopping them from kicking Mykel to the inside and having Huff on the outside in obvious passing situations.

It wouldn't surprise me if that happened especially late in games when you want to close it out.

[Harry Palmer]

Anyone else worried about Trent?

[Pattersonca65]

Anyone else worried about Trent?

https://ninernoise.com/trent-williams-show-49ers-otas-big-deal-think

[CrimsonCrew]

Some details on Huff rushing out of the wide-9 in '23 vs. '24 in the Tweet here. Only 89 snaps doing so last year with the Eagles, though he was still effective doing so (9th in the league in pressure rate from that alignment).

Huff is really undersized, probably around the 5th percentile in height (6015) and 25th percentile in weight (254) when he came out. Perhaps more significantly, he's got really short arms (31 3/4"), coming in below the 5th percentile. Hands are a bit better, but still 25th percentile (9.5").

Given those fringe measurables, it may just be that he needs the extra space created by the wide-nine to be effective as a pass-rusher. His go-to move is the cross-chop, which requires some build-up to create misdirection. Once he gets in close, it seems he just doesn't have the physical attributes to get the OL off him.

Read on Twitter

Incidentally, Huff is remarkably similar in terms of build to Rams' late-third-round pick Josaiah Stewart (Huff a half-inch taller, but effectively the same arm length and hand size, similar weight), who they probably hope develops into the type of player Huff has already shown he can be.

[CrimsonCrew]

Not Niners' news, but Detroit's C Frank Ragnow is retiring after seven years in the league. That's pretty huge. Ragnow has been one of the best centers in the league basically since he entered the league, and was second-team all-pro the past two years. That said, the Lions actually, you know, took steps to address the IOL, as if they knew they might need to replace an all-pro player at some point....

Looks like the Lions are planning to replace him with Tate Ratledge, who is a promising rookie, but I don't think Ratledge has any center experience. It seemed like Ratledge was brought in to replace Kevin Zeitler, which leaves them with something of a hole at OG if Ratledge kicks in to center. Graham Glasgow, who has been their weak link over the past few years, may kick into a full-time starting role. They also drafted Miles Frazier late in the 5th round. I think that's good value for him, and he's a good fit for their system. Christian Mahogany may also be thrust into a starting role. He measured well last year on limited snaps (75) as a rookie, but doesn't profile as a great pass-blocker.

Regardless, there's going to be more disruption along the Lions' OL than there has been in a couple years, possibly compounded by a new OC finding his footing. There may not be a team in the league that is as reliant on good play up front as the Lions, as their run game is lethal and Goff has never shown he can play under any pressure at all. Something to monitor in terms of a major NFC competitor.

[CrimsonCrew]

And Barkley is on the Madden cover!!! Conference title is just about guaranteed at this point.

[CrimsonCrew]

Huff trade is official. Conditional fifth that can become a fourth. Basically what I figured, and a reasonable trade for a guy who has double digit sack potential.

[Pattersonca65]

Huff trade is official. Conditional fifth that can become a fourth. Basically what I figured, and a reasonable trade for a guy who has double digit sack potential.

Low risk, alot of potential

[Jikkle]

Anyone else worried about Trent?

You never want to say never until he actually shows up to practice but I just have a tough time seeing him retire this upcoming season. Mainly because he just doesn't strike me as the type to leave all that money on the table. He's not a stupid man and he knows full well that once you retire you'll never see that kind of money again.

I also think the 9ers would've been more aggressive in getting an OT if they had indications that Trent is leaning towards retirement. Doesn't mean he can't suddenly wake up and decide he ain't doing this crap no more but kinda like with Staley they pretty much knew he was retiring long before we the fans did and they made the Williams trade at the time because of it.

[Jikkle]

Not Niners' news, but Detroit's C Frank Ragnow is retiring after seven years in the league. That's pretty huge. Ragnow has been one of the best centers in the league basically since he entered the league, and was second-team all-pro the past two years. That said, the Lions actually, you know, took steps to address the IOL, as if they knew they might need to replace an all-pro player at some point....

Looks like the Lions are planning to replace him with Tate Ratledge, who is a promising rookie, but I don't think Ratledge has any center experience. It seemed like Ratledge was brought in to replace Kevin Zeitler, which leaves them with something of a hole at OG if Ratledge kicks in to center. Graham Glasgow, who has been their weak link over the past few years, may kick into a full-time starting role. They also drafted Miles Frazier late in the 5th round. I think that's good value for him, and he's a good fit for their system. Christian Mahogany may also be thrust into a starting role. He measured well last year on limited snaps (75) as a rookie, but doesn't profile as a great pass-blocker.

Regardless, there's going to be more disruption along the Lions' OL than there has been in a couple years, possibly compounded by a new OC finding his footing. There may not be a team in the league that is as reliant on good play up front as the Lions, as their run game is lethal and Goff has never shown he can play under any pressure at all. Something to monitor in terms of a major NFC competitor.

Yeah I feel like the Lions are in the same boat as us 9er fans in that they blew their prime opportunity for a Super Bowl the past couple years. I mean they had us dead to rights in the NFC Championship game and they completely blew having the #1 overall seed and lost to the Commanders this past playoffs.

I don't think they'll fall apart but they have a tough road ahead given the NFC North is one of the toughest divisions in football.

[Jikkle]

Huff trade is official. Conditional fifth that can become a fourth. Basically what I figured, and a reasonable trade for a guy who has double digit sack potential.

Yeah hard to come up with any negatives with this trade.

Like it's hard to imagine any 5th or 4th rounder we would pick would have more potential impact than Huff would have. Even if Huff bombs the trade still would've been a smart gamble to take.

[RIPskaterdude]

Anyone seeing this as in part a comment on their impression of Williams’ in camp, or just that his pass rush was always going to need development and this is just a way of having that tool at hand while he develops?

Apparently this trade has been in the works for months but they were waiting on June 1

[CrimsonCrew]

We waived OT Petit-Frere. So thin at OT. Do we look at Humphries again?

Also, minor news, but Trent Taylor to IR.

[CrimsonCrew]

Lombardi is reporting that Trent Williams reported to OTAs. Phew.

[CrimsonCrew]

The more I think about the Huff trade, the more I like it. Sure, there's always the chance that he struggles, but if so, the price won't be particularly high in terms of draft capital (5th rounder) or salary cap. And I think there are a lot of reasons to think that he could be very close to his 2023 self.

Huff only has the one year of sack productivity, but his pass-rush win rate has been really good for three years, including last year. That is particularly true out of the wide-nine. As I posted previously, given his limited size, I think there's a strong argument that he needs the additional runway to be at his most effective as a rusher. He'll get that with the Niners. We also won't have to play him as a starter because his contract is just fine for that of a one-dimensional rusher. And his upside is markedly higher than anyone else who was available at this point.

Additionally, I really think we're strengthening two positions here, in a way. The lack of a second perimeter pass rusher - or even a second pass rusher anywhere on the DL - was a huge concern prior to this move. It wasn't at all clear who would be the second DE in our NASCAR package, but presumably it would have been one of Williams, Gross-Matos, Beal, or Sam O., none of whom have demonstrated success in that area to date. Additionally, we didn't really have obvious pass rush from the interior, where none of our DTs have ever had even four sacks in a season (Kevin Givens is the high man with 3.5 last year, unless we count CJ West getting 5 while playing for Kent State). Now, we can line up three or even four of our DEs in the NASCAR package. Bosa and Huff can both bring it from the outside, and Williams and Gross-Matos may both be better - at least for now in Williams' case - rushing from the inside.

This reminds me a bit of all the times Bill Belichick let a well-regarded player who he put in a good situation walk, the player would bust on another team, the Pats would re-sign the player at a discount, and they would return to the role where they played well and continue to play well.

[Pattersonca65]

Kocerek on Huff

https://www.ninersnation.com/2025/6/4/24443294/san-francisco-49ers-news-bryce-huff-adds-to-versatility-wrist-injury-held-him-back-in-2025

[Pattersonca65]

The more I think about the Huff trade, the more I like it. Sure, there's always the chance that he struggles, but if so, the price won't be particularly high in terms of draft capital (5th rounder) or salary cap. And I think there are a lot of reasons to think that he could be very close to his 2023 self.

Huff only has the one year of sack productivity, but his pass-rush win rate has been really good for three years, including last year. That is particularly true out of the wide-nine. As I posted previously, given his limited size, I think there's a strong argument that he needs the additional runway to be at his most effective as a rusher. He'll get that with the Niners. We also won't have to play him as a starter because his contract is just fine for that of a one-dimensional rusher. And his upside is markedly higher than anyone else who was available at this point.

Additionally, I really think we're strengthening two positions here, in a way. The lack of a second perimeter pass rusher - or even a second pass rusher anywhere on the DL - was a huge concern prior to this move. It wasn't at all clear who would be the second DE in our NASCAR package, but presumably it would have been one of Williams, Gross-Matos, Beal, or Sam O., none of whom have demonstrated success in that area to date. Additionally, we didn't really have obvious pass rush from the interior, where none of our DTs have ever had even four sacks in a season (Kevin Givens is the high man with 3.5 last year, unless we count CJ West getting 5 while playing for Kent State). Now, we can line up three or even four of our DEs in the NASCAR package. Bosa and Huff can both bring it from the outside, and Williams and Gross-Matos may both be better - at least for now in Williams' case - rushing from the inside.

This reminds me a bit of all the times Bill Belichick let a well-regarded player who he put in a good situation walk, the player would bust on another team, the Pats would re-sign the player at a discount, and they would return to the role where they played well and continue to play well.

That is why I liked the trade. Not much of a risk if he fails compared to the potential upside. Interesting comment from Kocurek regarding Huff who believes a wrist injury Huff received last season messed up his play.