The Next Bryce Huff?

A stout little edge player with speed and tools

The New York Jets may not be able to keep Bryce Huff this year as he is an unrestricted free agent. Maybe the Jets should have worked a new contract with him last year or did something to save him. The Jets may have thought they currently have a lot of cap space tied up for edge rushers, so they wanted to dedicate more resources to other areas of need. Whatever the case, the Jets may be in the market for a player similar to Huff at a lower cost.

A player with intriguing upside is Mohamed Kamara from Colorado State. Kamara is a quick, fast, hungry, undersized edge rusher in the mold of Huff. He spent 5 years at Colorado State, as the team played only four games in 2020 due to the Covid outbreak.

Kamara is a hustler. He never stops until the echo of the whistle. He has busy hands. At times he looks like a sushi chef chopping away at a big tackle’s hands and arms. Kamara has very good power in his hands. His punch can rock a tackle back. He uses his disadvantage of height as an asset, as he gets under the pads of his opponent, then presses him back using great leverage. He doesn’t have great length, but he uses what he has to separate himself around the edge with a one arm press (pole move). Kamara has enough bend to get around the edge with the speed to get there quickly. He possesses numerous pass rush moves and effective counters, which is rare for a collegian. He also possesses amazing speed for a stout lineman. He can chase players down from behind.

Where Kamara struggles is with size. He is listed at 6’ 1” 250 lbs, so he can be engulfed by the size of his opponents if he doesn’t play on the edges in a half man technique. He can run himself into traffic on inside moves if he doesn’t get through the gap quickly. He is not going to be a stack and shed maven on the edge; he doesn’t have enough mass.

Here Kamara shows some speed and quickness, as he is supposed to be washed down the line by the tight end at the snap. The offensive line is slanting left on a zone run, so the tight end expects Kamara to flow with the line. When he takes the outside move the tight end has no chance to get back to Kamara as he is off to the races.

In many cases NFL teams don’t bother to block the backside end, as few edge rushers have enough speed to chase down a running back from behind. Kamara wasn’t a third down designated rusher, he played the entire game. He had over 1,200 defensive snaps in the last two years. Even though he played the edge nearly exclusively, Kamara has 100 tackles over the last two years. He will probably be used only as a pass rush specialist in his first few years in the NFL, which should only increase his effectiveness.

What Kamara is going to be asked to do right away is rush the passer as an NFL rookie. In doing so he can take some liberty as to where he plays, since an inside run is not going to be called often with the offense in need of yards. What that does is allow Kamara to play a wide “7” or “9” edge placement, which will give him more room to build up speed with a better angle around the arc. Here you see the speed and quickness from a two point stance.

This play is over in about two seconds, with the big tackle having no shot at blocking Kamara. From a three point stance the rush could even be a little quicker. If the tackle slides quickly outside to protect the arc, Kamara can counter inside to get home even quicker. In this clip Kamara only needs that one-armed stab to keep the tackle off him as he races by.

This next clip shows you a pass rush with a well thought out plan to beat a much larger player. This move combines feet, hands and leverage all in quick succession to get the job done. This is nice.

It starts with the first step, which is outside, so the tackle immediately looks to protect the arc and opens his outside shoulder. The next step by Kamara is a short jab step inside which screams “inside move”, so the tackle hesitates for a split second. This allows Kamara’s third step to be outside and gets him to the outside shoulder with the tackle parallel to Kamara instead of having a 45 degree angle to push him outside.

Now Kamara dips his own shoulder to get low, then makes contact under the tackle’s breast plate coming from low to high. This gives Kamara leverage, so he is able to rock the big tackle back on his heels. Once Kamara gets even with the tackle he is leaving the tackle behind. He does so by using his “pole move” to keep the tackle away as he races to the QB. Kamara is using the football axiom that one arm is longer than two. All that is left to do is not whiff on the sack as the QB steps up to avoid the hit. Kamara gets all this done in a couple of seconds.

This final clip has nothing to do with pass rushing and everything to do with hustle, heart and speed. This is an option pitch play to the running back to the opposite side of the field. This is a play that is well blocked, with a running back with speed and vision. The running back weaves his way through the defense, making players miss.

This is an amazing play of an edge rusher racing 40 yards downfield to stop a near sure TD. You can see the speed that Kamara has, but you also see the desire he shows to make a play. That is the kind of player you want on your team. He may be just a situational player, but the never say die attitude is something that inspires teammates. Most edge players to the backside of the play would have shut it down to become a spectator, but not Kamara.

Kamara is not a player who will be desired by all teams, but the Jets are an ideal landing spot for Kamara. He has tools, plus he already has a toybox full of pass rush moves. He screams “All gas, no break”, so he’s a keeper.

In the last two years alone, over a 24 game span, Kamara has amassed 100 tackles, 33 tackles for loss, 4 forced fumbles, 73 quarterback hurries, 24 quarterback hits, 22 sacks and 2 passes defended. He grades out on PFF as the 7th best pass rusher in the 2024 draft with a 19.4% pass rush win rate.

Since an edge rusher is not the greatest need for the Jets they can’t use premium picks on that position. I have a third round grade on Kamara, but in such a deep draft he may last until late in the third or early fourth round. The Jets may be able to target Kamara with pick #112 or #114, or a little earlier if the Jets gain additional picks through trades.

What do you think?