PFF painfully lays bare irony, disappointment of Bengals' offseason pass rush search

The Cincinnati Bengals had one of the worst defenses in the NFL after having one of the worst defenses in the NFL last season. Missed tackles aside, another cause of their demise was the lack of pass rush, which allowed opposing quarterbacks to spend what felt like an eternity in the pocket.

It is a miracle that DJ Turner and Dax Hill held up in coverage as well as they did. Apologies for the digression. 

Now with the draft around the corner and free agency across the street, the Bengals will surely be looking for help in the pass-rush department. 

For that, Mason Cameron of Pro Football Focus put out his top impending free agent pass rushers. And Cincinnati fans will be disappointed to see who they list at number one, by a wide margin. 

Trey Hendrickson tops PFF’s list, which is awkward timing for Bengals

Current, and apparent soon-to-be former, Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson lands the top spot on the PFF list of top free agent edge rushers. 

The analytics site gives him a grade of 90.1. The next-closest defensive end, third on Cameron’s list, is Los Angeles Chargers’ Odafe Oweh, with a grade of 80.7.

Between Hendrickson and Oweh is Jacksonville Jaguars’ linebacker, Devin Lloyd.

Of Hendrickson, Cameron states, "Let’s not overthink this. Even at 31 years old, Hendrickson hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down. He is one of six edge rushers to record a pass-rush win rate above 20% over the past three seasons, and he also places in the 96th percentile in PFF pass-rush grade on true pass sets." 

The irony is that, at a time when the Bengals are in desperate need of edge-rush help, the top player on the market is, more than likely, not interested in the organization. And vice versa. 

Unfortunately, the front office can’t rely on nailing the draft at that spot when they have shown an extraordinary lack of ability to scout the position properly. 

So the next logical step would be for the Bengals to go after the next-best top pass rusher scheduled for free agency.

Read More: Trainer of Bengals legend sees strong resemblance in 2026 NFL Draft prospect

Odafe Oweh emerges as “value” option for Bengals

Short of a miracle, Hendrickson will not return to Cincinnati next season. Just as unlikely is that they will hit on an immediate contributor at the position in the draft. However, the possibility of the latter is greater than the former. 

With that, the front office’s Pro Scouting Department must hit on a free agent the same way that the team hit on Hendrickson. 

Third on PFF’s list of defensive players who deserve to get paid is Odafe Oweh. 

Of Oweh’s market value, Cameron notes, “On a projected three-year, $57.9 million deal, Oweh would be one of the best values in free agency.”

With the Bengals needing to plug a lot of holes, especially on defense, “value” is speaking the front office’s language. The 27-year old Oweh finished the season with 7.5 sacks, 28 tackles, and eight tackles for loss.

Irony thick as history repeats

The potential drop off from Hendrickson to Oweh, or any other free agent pick up, would be noticeable. But the potential upgrade of Oweh over the current crop of Bengals pass rushers could be just significant. 

Nevertheless, it is a shame that the Bengals have such a proven edge rusher in Hendrickson staring them in the face, yet were unable to strike a deal with him, leaving the team in the same dretch they found themselves last offseason, despite taking an edge rusher in the first round for the second time in three years. 

While most fanbases will see this list and hope their team lands Hendrickson, the Bengals have him, but refused to do enough to keep him in Cincinnati.

Now, as PFF puts it, Hendrickson is the crown jewel of defensive playmakers in free agency. And just like the Louvre and some of their valuables, expect another team to come along and grab him.

Isn't it ironic.

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