Trey Hendrickson quickly went from Cincinnati hero to villain over the past year. After helping to transform the Bengals' pass-rush, helping to reach consecutive AFC championship games, and the Super Bowl in 2021, he has now jumped over no-man's land and joined the Ravens.
Duke Tobin didn't want to stand on ceremony with Hendrickson and let him walk. As a result, the Bengals invested heavily into the defensive line to help replace the 31-year-old, signing Dexter Lawrence, Boye Mafe and Jonathan Allen.
Al Golden now has a much-improved pass rush unit, despite letting Hendrickson leave.
Trey Hendrickson carried the Bengals' defensive line over the past five years
For what Bengals fans now feel about Hendrickson, we shouldn't be stubborn enough to admit that his impact over the past five years has been impressive. Since joining in 2021, the former Saints pass rusher recorded 61 sacks, 12 forced fumbles and 115 solo tackles.
In 2024, he became just the second Bengals player in history to lead the NFL in sacks (17.5), beating out the likes of Myles Garrett and Danielle Hunter. However, last year tainted his legacy in the Queen City, and the Bengals are now looking for someone to fill Hendrickson's shoes.
Boye Mafe confident he can replace Trey Hendrickson
After Hendrickson left, the Bengals opted to replace him with recent Super Bowl champion Boye Mafe, who hit free agency after leaving the Seahawks. Mafe has been a consistent performer over the past few years, and even though his sack numbers don't match up to Hendrickson's, there's no reason why he can't make a similar impact.
Since getting drafted in the second round by Seattle in 2022, the 27-year-old has recorded 99 solo tackles, 20 sacks and three forced fumbles. However, his numbers don't tell the full tale, as last season, Mafe was ranked eighth amongst edge rushers for his pass rush win rate, according to Next Gen Stats.
In a recent interview with Bengals.com writer Geoff Hobson, Mafe said that he is constantly improving year on year because he views the game more slowly, and his confidence keeps growing.
"For me, the game slowed down. I started to get more of an understanding when you get the game to slow down, you're able to play more confident and free. I went from three sacks my rookie year to nine my second year."
Why Mafe could be better than Hendrickson
It's a bold claim to say that a player who has had a season high of nine sacks could become better than a player who was the sack leader two years ago. However, as the win-rate shows, Mafe's sack numbers are surely set to shoot up, and there's more reason to be cheerful, too.
The 27-year-old has a much better supporting cast than Hendrickson, which you could say means he has more competition for sacks, but if anything, it means that as a unit, the Bengals should be able to generate more pressure from all angles.
With increased pressure from the interior, opposing offensive lines will have to spread their focus, meaning that Mafe could get isolated matchups, something that Hendrickson rarely saw.
More pressure as a unit equals better sack numbers. The combination of Mafe's win rate, assisted by Lawrence and Allen, means that he could genuinely become a more impactful edge rusher than Hendrickson was, or at least he will be the perfect replacement.
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