There seems to be a discussion about whether or not Jerry Hughes’ production has started to slip over the past few seasons with the Buffalo Bills. In the regular season, he has had five or more sacks only once over the past few seasons (he had seven in 2018). However, he has only had one season during that stretch with single-digit QB hits (he had nine in 2019).
Hughes also has played extremely well during the Bills playoff trips the past two seasons with six sacks and seven QB hits in only four games.
While he may not be putting up the huge sack numbers anymore at this point in his career, he is still getting great pressure on the opposing quarterback. This is one of the reasons why Jerry Hughes ended up being ranked 15th in the NFL among edge rushers recently by Pro Football Focus.
"15. JERRY HUGHES, BUFFALO BILLSIt’s reasonable to expect Hughes to lose a step here soon, as he will enter next season at 33 years old, but he has shown little sign of decline of late in Buffalo. Over the past three seasons, Hughes’ 19.8% pass-rush win rate ranks fifth among qualifiers at the position. Expect Buffalo to continue to lean on him in 2021 while grooming recent draft picks such as A.J. Epenesa, Gregory Rousseau and Carlos Basham Jr. to take on larger roles down the line."
The Buffalo Bills have invested a great deal of draft capital over the past two seasons at the defensive end position. They used a second round pick last year on A.J. Epenesa and then used their first and second round picks this year on Gregory Rousseau and Carlos Basham Jr..
While the Buffalo Bills appear to be set for the future with these young pass rushers, it isn’t fair to count out Jerry Hughes quite yet presently. He is 33 years old so he likely doesn’t have many seasons left but he should remain the team’s starter at least this season.
The question will be whether or not this is Hughes’ final season with the team. He is currently set to enter the final year of his contract with the team and could be a free agent after the season. However, if he continues to be productive the Buffalo Bills could bring him back to remain as part of the rotation at the position along with being a mentor for these young players.