Sheldon Rankins' standard of excellence is exactly what the Cincinnati Bengals need on defense
Sacks and pressures are great, but not great enough when Sheldon Rankins pops on his own tape. "I spent most of my time watching all the [plays] I didn't make instead of the ones I made," Rankins told members of Bengals media Monday morning. "Because the ones I make, I truly expect myself to make those […]
Sacks and pressures are great, but not great enough when Sheldon Rankins pops on his own tape.
"I spent most of my time watching all the [plays] I didn't make instead of the ones I made," Rankins told members of Bengals media Monday morning. "Because the ones I make, I truly expect myself to make those plays. So I'm always just trying to find ways to get better, it's never good enough for me."
He was good enough to the beat the Cincinnati Bengals last season. More than enough, even.
Rankins remembers wanting more
Following Rankins' disruptive lead, the Houston Texans made life Hell for Joe Burrow and the Bengals a few months ago. The former first-round pick, who's been coveted by Cincinnati for the past few years, sacked Burrow three times and pressured him even more during the Texans' 30-27 overtime victory from Week 10.
Pro Football Focus had Rankins with nine pressures, five hurries, and one hit on Burrow to go with three sacks.
A dominant day for any defensive lineman, and a day that left Rankins unsatisfied.
"Everybody I know is super excited about the three-sack game," Rankins reflected. "And I was sitting on the plane or sitting on the bus thinking like 'I'm pretty sure I could've had six today,' and that's all I could think about. I couldn't be happy with the three because I knew there was some I still left out there."
Burrow may not have been able to walk the next day if that was the case.
Rankins had been free agency target for the Bengals going all the way back to before their 2021 run to the Super Bowl. The Bengals ended up with Larry Ogunjobi instead of Rankins that offseason, and since Ogunjobi left the next year, Cincinnati hasn't had a 3-technique like him.
That's why Rankins is here for real this time, and not lining up on the opposite side of Burrow. The Bengals have severely lacked any interior pass rush over the past two seasons, and it became a problem in 2023. Only the Detroit Lions allowed more explosive passing plays of 20 yards or more during the regular season, and the Bengals' most productive interior pass rusher was, DJ Reader, who's now a Lion himself.
Outside of Reader, Cincinnati gave significant pass rushing snaps to B.J. Hill, Zach Carter, and Josh Tupou. Only Hill ranked inside the top 50 and top 100 in PFF's pass rushing production metric.
Getting next to nothing outside of two defensive tackles on passing downs, and one of them being a nose tackle by trade, is far from optimal. Rankins not only brings better past production to the table, he's still hungry to bring even more for a defense starving for it.
"It's always about getting better. It's never about resting on what I've done. It's never about being satisfied with anything," Rankins said. "That's just not the way I'm wired. Maybe when I'm done playing I can sit back and smell the roses, so to speak, but for now, I gotta keep going.
"There's more plays to make and I gotta make them."
For every play Rankins doesn't leave out on the field, the Bengals' defense will get that much better.
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