ESPN's Football Power Index (FPI) ranks the San Francisco 49ers as the 10th-best team in the NFL entering the 2025 season. With what is projected to be the easiest schedule in the league, the 49ers hold a 65.2% chance of returning to the playoffs after last year's 6-11 disappointment, along with a 39.2% chance to win the NFC West.
Beyond the team forecast, ESPN analyst Seth Walder issued a bold prediction for one new key piece of San Francisco's defense: pass rusher Bryce Huff will record at least nine sacks.
The 49ers acquired Huff in a trade with the Philadelphia Eagles, banking on the veteran edge rusher to boost a pass rush that struggled with consistency in 2024. He'll join edge rushers Nick Bosa, Yetur Gross-Matos, rookie Mykel Williams (who can also line up inside), and others in a retooled defensive front.
"Maybe this is just stubbornness, but there has to be a real chance that last year's disappointment in Philadelphia was a one-year blip for Huff that can be overcome by returning to a Robert Saleh-schemed defense," Walder wrote.
Huff's lone season with the Eagles was a letdown after his 10-sack breakout campaign with the New York Jets in 2023. In Philadelphia, he managed only 2.5 sacks in 12 games (six starts) and was inactive during the team's Super Bowl LIX victory over the Kansas City Chiefs.
Still, Walder believes Huff's talent is undeniable, writing, "As bad as last season was, it's not enough to make me forget about the 10.0 sacks or the top-10 pass rush win rate at edge (22%) Huff recorded in 2023."
Signed by the Jets as an undrafted free agent in 2020, Huff has tallied 78 tackles (20 for loss), 20 sacks, three passes defensed, and two forced fumbles across five NFL seasons. San Francisco believes he was miscast in Philadelphia and will thrive in a more traditional hand-in-the-dirt role that better suits his strengths.
"Yeah, rushing with my hand down is definitely what I'm supposed to be doing," Huff said in July. "It's a lot more physical style of ball. You don't have to think as much. Just go out there and be an athlete and make plays, so it's definitely a [better] fit."
Head coach Kyle Shanahan is excited about Huff's potential impact, highlighting the defender's explosive first step.
"When you talk about just getting off the ball and how fast he does it, he'll be our best get-off-the-ball guy we've had since Dee Ford," Shanahan said in June. "So in terms of that, it's good to beat tackles that way, but it also widens tackles to help with the inside pass rush and things like that, and he affects the quarterback."
Huff and the 49ers look to show that Huff was misused in Philadelphia, and hope the defender can become one of the NFL's breakout pass rushers in 2025.