One could make the case for several members of the Cincinnati Bengals qualifying as the team’s most underrated player.
But Carlos Dunlap seems to lead the list.
In a slap fight with Geno Atkins for the all-time franchise sack mark, Dunlap has been a rock for the Bengals since 2010 when he broke onto the scene with 9.5 sacks.
He’s never really taken his foot off the proverbial gas since and just popped up as the most underrated player on the Bengals at Pro Football Focus:
“Dunlap recently made PFF’s All-Decade 101 at 89th overall — PFF’s Sam Monson called him “one of the most underrated players of his generation.” I’d tend to agree with that assessment. Dunlap has never graded below 70.0 during his 10-year NFL career, and he’s coming off a career-high 89.7 grade in 2019 that was one of the best marks at the edge defender position across the league. When it comes to just raw pressures over the last 10 years, his 565 total pressures ranks third at the position behind only Von Miller and Cameron Wake. Dunlap figures to remain a key component of a much-improved Bengals defense in 2020 after the moves they made on that side of the ball this offseason.”
No point in disagreeing — how 81.5 sacks since 2010 has flown under the radar is something of a mystery. How the above pressure count places him with Von Miller and Cam Wake got overlooked is impossible to say.
Even in a down year last season, Dunlap started slow but turned it on late, finishing with 32 pressures and nine sacks.
Still only 31 years old, Dunlap remains in his prime and a building block sure to play a role in whether the unit experiences a resurgence in 2020. While it seems he’ll still operate in the shadows from a national perspective, Bengals fans know how good they have it with their star edge defender.
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