A few members of the Cincinnati Bengals — headed up by Joe Burrow — have been on the receiving end of nearly unending praise and had breakout whispers around them since the draft.
Now it’s Sam Hubbard’s turn.
Hubbard, going into his third season, slots as a double-digit sack breakout candidate for Joe Marino at The Draft Network:
“Sam Hubbard may have been the seventh defensive end drafted in 2018 but that hasn’t stopped him from recording the most sacks of any defender in his draft class. After logging six sacks as a rookie, Hubbard produced 8 1/2 in 2019 and has quickly developed into a fixture up front for the Bengals’ defense.”
Hubbard, unlike a big chunk of his defense, didn’t have a ton of problems last year making the transition to Lou Anarumo’s scheme. Besides the 8.5 sacks, he put up 19 pressures while only missing 6.2 percent of his tackles (he missed 13.3 percent as a rookie).
It’s got to be encouraging for the Bengals to have a player on a list alongside the likes of Chase Young, Brian Burns and even Nick Bosa considering he was only a third-round pick. Even better, he’s a local kid and one of those core high-energy leaders Zac Taylor’s staff loves.
Besides Hubbard’s natural development track, Cincinnati added D.J. Reader to the heart of the defensive line and remade the linebacker unit, two other features that should help borderline guarantee he’s headed for 10-plus sacks.
