Generally speaking, the Cincinnati Bengals fall mostly into the underrated category. While the team struggles to win games, names like Jessie Bates don’t get the credit they deserve.
But what about the most overrated player on the roster?
Pro Football Network’s James Fragoza was asked to tackle this subject for all 32 teams and came up with Trey Hendrickson for the Bengals:
“From 2017-2019, Hendrickson was a solid rotational piece along the Saints’ defensive line. Nonetheless, he exploded in 2020, racking up 13.5 sacks — tied with Aaron Donald for second-most in the league. While impressive, sacks are more quarterback-dependent and are not a stable metric. I will never fault a player for earning his money, but the Bengals let an underrated player walk (Carl Lawson) in favor of giving a big payday to an overrated one.”
And it’s a…totally fair suggestion to make. Hendrickson was hardly utilized and effective for most of his NFL career until last season. His big breakout numbers were a product of playing alongside names like Cam Jordan while generating coverage sacks.
The Bengals knew the risks with Hendrickson, which is why they structured his deal in such a way that they can get out of it early if things don’t work out.
Still, Hendrickson was one of the NFL’s best when rushing from a certain gap. And he says the Bengals will use him in that gap and more than he’s ever been used in his career next season.
If it all works out, Hendrickson’s one-hit wonder season last year was a sign of things to come, not an anomaly. The Bengals hope the other pass-rushers and reworked secondary help him make that happen.
Until it does, things like this will exist.
