The "Classic Jurassic Meat-Eater Matchup" this week features another of those pesky, ruthless and dogged double-digit sack monsters who can make life miserable on a Sunday (or in this case Saturday) afternoon.
Trey Hendrickson, stands 6-foot-4 and weighs 270-pounds, and is the Cincinnati version of TJ Watt. A two-time Pro Bowler, Hendrickson has 15 sacks this year, including four multi-sack games. He's also registered 24 solo tackles, 15 tackles for loss, and 21 quarterback hits to boot. This guy is hostile, mobile and capable of dominating if the opposing offensive lineman isn't ready for an all-day, every-play battle royale.
Hendrickson has notched at least one full sack in each of the past five games, making this his longest streak of consecutive games with a sack since the 2021 season, where he went nine-straight games. Hendrickson now has pinned 50.5 QB pelts to his trophy room wall since the start of the 2020 season, tied for third-most in the NFL behind Watt and Myles Garrett in that period.
Playing as a stand-up edge rusher, Hendrickson occasionally will put his hand in the dirt and has an excellent get off at the snap which he uses to his advantage. A classic speed-to-power rusher in the style of Kevin Greene, Hendrickson carries the momentum of an up-field rush and translates it into power with proper body framing and posture.
After rushing up the field, Hendrickson will use that speed to gain inside position on his opponent's center line with his hands and then the close-quarter combatives ARE ON at this point. By skillfully applying pressure as he bull rushes his opponent, Hendrickson has complimentary hand-trapping skills to use to both bypass his opponent's arms to disengage and hunt down an opposing quarterback.
He also will use that speed to run the arc with a good hand trap and uppercut combos to shave a couple steps.
Blessed with strength in which he will use to bull rush and lockout with full extension like he's bench pressing and drive his opponent backwards into the quarterback, he's also got good closing speed with which to hunt once he gets off the block by the offensive lineman.
Setting the edge on a running play is something he does well also. Using his body strength to square off and turn a running play back to the inside, or sliding down gap by gap on the backside to maintain his run-fit, Hendrickson is equally capable of both, and displays good football IQ when diagnosing and sniffing out screen plays.
However, only five defenses have given up more rushing yards this season than the Bengals. Almost one-third of the rushing plays against Cincinnati have resulted in a first down or touchdown, the highest rate in the league. Cincinnati also allows a league high 286.3 passing yards per game over its past nine games.
But any success the Steelers hope to attain offensively this weekend will start where it always does, with the clash of the titans up front.
