Bengals finally address the trenches by signing a defensive tackle that wrecked them last season
Three of Sheldon Rankins' six sacks last season came against the Cincinnati Bengals. It's safe to say they remember all three very vividly. Rankins will only be attacking the Bengals' offensive line in practice now as he's signing a two-year, $26 million deal, per NFL Media's Mike Garafolo. ESPN's Jeremy Fowler was the first to report […]
Three of Sheldon Rankins' six sacks last season came against the Cincinnati Bengals. It's safe to say they remember all three very vividly.
Rankins will only be attacking the Bengals' offensive line in practice now as he's signing a two-year, $26 million deal, per NFL Media's Mike Garafolo. ESPN's Jeremy Fowler was the first to report an imminent deal.
Rankins is a pure pass-rushing defensive tackle who's primarily played the 3-technique spot over the course of his eight-year career. His 14.6% pass rush win rate ranked tied for ninth among qualifying interior defensive linemen, per Pro Football Focus.
This is to say two things. One, his job will be to rush the passer, not stop the run. Two, he does not impact the Bengals' pursuit in nose tackle DJ Reader.
The Wright Way Network's Malik Wright reports the team still has interest in retaining their dominant run-stuffer.
Adding Rankins to the defensive line gives Cincinnati a dynamic duo at 3-technique with B.J. Hill as his running mate. The positional combination of Hill and Larry Ogunjobi helped propel a Super Bowl run in 2021. The hope is this new pairing does the same.
Bengals get back a winning strategy at 3-technique
Ogunjobi and Hill fed off each other as partners in crime pushing the pocket and making the lives of Trey Hendrickson and Sam Hubbard easier off the edge. They combined for 994 pass rushing snaps and put together 79 pressures and 14 sacks between the two of them (including postseason play).
Cincinnati loved what Hill brought to the table and re-signed him in the 2022 offseason to a three-year, $30 million deal. They couldn't do the same with Ogunjobi, who was injured at the time and failed a physical after agreeing to terms with the Chicago Bears.
The answer to Ogunjobi's departure was Zach Carter, a third-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft who's provided next to nothing in two years as a rotational interior player. Carter's ineffectiveness has led to Hill having to play more snaps, and thus, his pass rushing efficiency hasn't been the same since 2021 when Ogunjobi was rotating in and out with him.
B.J. Hill's Pass Rushing Efficiency with Bengals
| Season | Pass Rushing Snaps | Pass Rush Win Rate |
|---|---|---|
2021 | 481 | 10.4% |
2022 | 615 | 7.1% |
2023 | 499 | 8.2% |
Enter Rankins, who's been a consistent pressure machine at the 3-technique spot since being drafted in the first-round all the way back in 2016. He's not an all-around player as he struggles in run defense with missed tackles and losing depth, but he's made a good living in the NFL for what he does against opposing quarterbacks.
There's just one question left, and that's who will play next to him when Hill is off the field.
Bengals still need a nose tackle
As Wright reported, the Bengals are still in on Reader even if there's a greater chance he ends up in Detroit rather than back in Cincinnati. There's no great pivot option at the position this late into free agency, which would have the NFL Draft coming into the picture as Plan B.
It's still probable that the Bengals put pen to paper on somebody at the position so it's not completely vacant when the draft rolls around, but the odds of them feeling comfortable at that spot are very slim if Reader leaves.
Rankins solves a big problem in ensuring Hill's usage stays at a good level, and therefore increasing the defensive line's ability to generate pressure from the inside. The unit as a whole is still at least one starting piece away from being good to go.
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