Josh Huff made his presence known last Friday night towards the end of the second quarter, when he scampered 102 yards into the end zone after the previous scoring drive put together by the Bears. It's been a while since the Eagles had such a weapon in the return game, so the Huff touchdown came as a bit of a shock. The 86th pick of the 2014 draft, Huff is a talented receiver out of the University of Oregon who really got rolling during his senior season in college. Although Matthews has been the more hyped receiver the Eagles drafted this offseason, Huff brings a lot more to the table than his special teams prowess.
Huff played for four seasons at Oregon, amassing nearly 2,400 receiving yards and 24 touchdowns on his 144 career receptions. However, a good portion of those stats were compiled during his senior season, where he caught 62 passes for 1,140 yards and 12 touchdowns. Oregon has been one of the top collegiate football programs of the last decade, so playing time would be sparse for underclassmen receivers, who had plenty of older athletes ahead of them on the depth charts. Huff waited patiently for his time and when his senior season came around, he took full advantage and produced the stats mentioned earlier.
Huff is a terrific athlete, as he demonstrated at the combine back in February. He clocked a 40-yard dash time of 4.51 and has a vertical jump of over 35 inches. What held him back from being drafted earlier was his raw playmaking abilities. Most scouts agreed that he must get stronger and develop further as a route runner in order to be an NFL starter. Anyone with the kind of athleticism Huff has can one day become a force in the NFL, but when you come into the league as raw as Huff, very few reach that potential. However, Chip Kelly is very familiar with what Josh is capable of from his days at Oregon, which means that Huff should be able to assimilate himself with Kelly's offense quicker than most rookies would be able to.
While he may not be a go-to receiver or even a fantasy football contributor this season, he can make quite an impact on special teams and can be a major part of the offense moving forward. The Eagles have plenty of impact players on offense as it is, but Huff's special teams play can come in handy for them this season.
By: Dan Goggin
Follow us on twitter @BroadStBeat
Huff is a terrific athlete, as he demonstrated at the combine back in February. He clocked a 40-yard dash time of 4.51 and has a vertical jump of over 35 inches. What held him back from being drafted earlier was his raw playmaking abilities. Most scouts agreed that he must get stronger and develop further as a route runner in order to be an NFL starter. Anyone with the kind of athleticism Huff has can one day become a force in the NFL, but when you come into the league as raw as Huff, very few reach that potential. However, Chip Kelly is very familiar with what Josh is capable of from his days at Oregon, which means that Huff should be able to assimilate himself with Kelly's offense quicker than most rookies would be able to.
While he may not be a go-to receiver or even a fantasy football contributor this season, he can make quite an impact on special teams and can be a major part of the offense moving forward. The Eagles have plenty of impact players on offense as it is, but Huff's special teams play can come in handy for them this season.
By: Dan Goggin
Follow us on twitter @BroadStBeat
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