(Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports)
It took a while for Trey Hendrickson to emerge as a dynamic pass rusher in the NFL, but his performance the past two seasons has put him among the league’s best off the edge. During the 2020 season, Hendrickson enjoyed his breakout campaign, posting 13.5 sacks for the New Orleans Saints.
He parlayed that into a new contract with the Cincinnati Bengals, and he lived up to the terms of the new deal, posing a career-high 14 sacks last year, along with 34 total tackles, another career-best mark. Combined with his 45 pressures — yet another career-high — Hendrickson gave the Bengals a formidable presence off one edge.
And paired with Sam Hubbard, that gave Cincinnati a stout duo up front.
His combination of technique and effort is what makes him one of the league’s best pass rushers. This sack of Lamar Jackson perhaps best encapsulates his game, as he avoids the left tackle with a swim move, but then chases down Jackson from behind:
Those quick hands show up on this sack of Justin Herbert, as Hendrickson gets past the talented Rashawn Slater off the edge:
The Bengals have a number of emerging talents on both sides of the football, with Hendrickson chief among them in their defensive front. A third-straight season with double-digit sacks might see him place even higher on next year’s edition of this list.
