05-12-2022, 10:57 PM
(05-12-2022, 10:49 PM)Nicomo Cosca Wrote: He is. And that’s no slight against Hendrickson. He’s an elite pass rusher. But stopping the run was the identity of our defense last year, and that’s largely because of Reader.
Reader is a stud but I have to vote Hendrickson as the best, most impactful defensive player. At least last season. Cincinnati's rush defense was middling aside from the standard volume stats. The Bengals allowed the fifth least yards because they faced the fifth least carries. Teams didn't run the ball much on them and tried passing to stay in the game due to Cincinnati's offense. From a per carry standpoint, the Bengals were 13th in yards per carry and 15th in EPA per rush.
Cincinnati wasn't particularly great at anything on defense until the playoffs, where they were an incredibly opportunistic defense. Their turnover ratio was absolutely incredible.
