Huff has lead the league in pressure rate the past 2 seasons
Huff is exceptional at pressuring the QB, perhaps he can develop as a finisher like Reddick.
One of the reasons McDonald was drafted was that he was exceptional in college at pressuring but more importantly in finishing in a sack or forced fumble. It's all explained in this article by Michael Nania from last year.
Thanks to his incredible bend around the edge, McDonald excels at converting his wins and pressures into sacks. Once he beats the tackle, his ability to tightly turn the corner helps him create favorable angles to the quarterback, ensuring he finishes plays with sacks instead of only forcing the quarterback to move.This is portrayed in McDonald’s statistics. McDonald had 127 total pressures in his career and an impressive 35 of those were sacks. That gives McDonald a pressure-to-sack rate of 27.6%, which is outstanding. For reference, the 2022 national average for edge rushers was 16.1%.
In the NFL, McDonald’s 27.6% rate would have placed him ninth-best out of 113 qualified edge rushers in 2022. It’s closest to Steelers edge rusher Alex Highsmith (27.3%), who finished with a sack on 15 of his 55 total pressures.
This specific trait is likely one of the main reasons why the Jets valued McDonald so highly. It’s an area where they have plenty of room to improve.
Yes, New York’s edge rushers won their battles very consistently in 2022, ranking fifth-best out of 32 edge units as they combined to create pressure on 12.5% of their pass rush snaps. But they only had 25 sacks to 172 pressures, giving them a 22nd-ranked pressure-to-sack rate of 14.5%. Finishing was an issue.
The Jets already had edge rushers who cause havoc at a consistent rate. What the Jets didn’t have is an edge rusher who can finish plays at the level of the NFL’s household-name superstars.
https://jetsxfactor.com/2023/04/28/ny-jets-will-mcdonald-breakdown/