Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson has received another nod as one of the best at his position in the NFL.
No longer speculated as the one-hit wonder but a dominant pass-rushing force, Hendrickson finished as the ninth overall edge defender in Pro Football Focus’ 2022 rankings.
Jonathon Macri elaborated:
“Hendrickson has emerged as one of the better pass-rush specialists in the league over the past few seasons, improving his pass-rush grade every year since 2019. His most recent improvement landed him among the top five players at his position in terms of pass-rush grade, and while that didn’t translate into the sack production of others in that range, he still made a significant impact with 18 quarterback hits (fourth most among edge defenders) and a 17.03% pressure rate (eighth).”
When the Bengals paid up big for Hendrickson in free agency in 2021, there was reason to wonder if his 13.5 sacks the year prior in New Orleans were a bit of a fluke after limited production over three years before that.
So much for that idea — Hendrickson had 14 sacks in 2021 with the Bengals and eight more last year over 15 games. All the more impressive, his numbers probably would have been even better in 2022 if he hadn’t needed to play through a broken wrist.
If nothing else, this is just more proof the Bengals got a big win and Hendrickson has managed to play like one of the best in the NFL at his spot since joining.
