Tag: Sheldon Rankins

Bengals get rough injury update on key defender before Week 13 vs. Steelers

The Bengals will be down a key player during the AFC North fight.

The Cincinnati Bengals will need to rely on rookies more than usual during the critical Week 13 showdown with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Bengals head coach Zac Taylor revealed on Friday that starting defensive lineman Sheldon Rankins won’t be able to play against the Steelers due to a viral illness, according to ESPN’s Ben Baby.

Rankins was a surprise inactive before the Week 11 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers after a late viral illness made him unable to go. After the bye, the illness unfortunately will continue to cause him to miss time.

With Rankins out against a Steelers team that would love nothing more than to run often, rookies Kris Jenkins Jr. and McKinnley Jackson will once again be asked to step up big in the rotation with B.J. Hill.

As for Rankins, he joined the Bengals in free agency last year on a two-year deal, though there’s an out the team could utilize next offseason.

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Bengals’ Sheldon Rankins floated as cut candidate

Should the Bengals move on from Sheldon Rankins this offseason?

The Cincinnati Bengals haven’t seen a big return on investment since the arrival of Sheldon Rankins this year.

Rankins arrived this past offseason on a two-year, $24.5 million contract and has appeared in just seven games and earned a 55.3 PFF grade in the process.

Now, analysts such as Bleacher Report’s Alex Ballentine have turned an eye to the future for the Bengals and floated Rankins as a cut candidate:

The Bengals let D.J. Reader leave in free agency and then signed Sheldon Rankins to a two-year, $24.5 million contract. That has turned out to be a major source of disappointment.

The 30-year-old simply doesn’t hold up at the point of attack the same way Reader did, and it’s having a ripple effect on their defensive line.

The Bengals parting ways with Rankins would save $9.5 million in cap space next offseason. It’s reasonable to think that option might be on the table given the wealth of money the franchise will need to pay Ja’Marr Chase and keep rebuilding the struggling defense.

Beyond the money side of things, both rookies Kris Jenkins Jr. and McKinnley Jackson have shown serious flashes as long-term solutions in the middle. Letting them get more playing time and adding veteran and/or rookie depth next offseason might make sense.

That is, of course, unless Rankins turns things around. But he was the big new addition to a rotation that was meant to counteract the loss of DJ Reader and that simply hasn’t happened.

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Bengals get brutal, last-second injury news before Week 11 vs. Chargers

Add another injury for the Bengals before kickoff.

The Cincinnati Bengals entered Week 11 against the Los Angeles Chargers dealing with injuries to major names like offensive tackle Orlando Brown Jr. and defensive end Trey Hendrickson.

Add defensive lineman Sheldon Rankins to the list.

Sunday afternoon, the Bengals announced that Rankins had been added to the injury report with a questionable tag due to an illness.

That technically means Rankins is a 50-50 chance to play. But if he does, this late addition to the report suggests he certainly won’t be at 100 percent.

This places a ton of added pressure on B.J. Hill and rookies Kris Jenkins Jr. and McKinnley Jackson.

Call it the exact type of news the Bengals don’t want to hear before they take on a run-first offense with J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards.

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Sheldon Rankins plots injury return that revives Bengals defense

Sheldon Rankins wants to get his Bengals defense back on track.

With the final injury report revealing the Cincinnati Bengals will have defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins back in Week 6 against the New York Giants, the veteran hopes his presence can turn things around for the unit.

Rankins, who went down in Week 2 during the loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, says his return, alongside B.J. Hill, can potentially light a fuse for the unit.

“We haven’t had our four (regulars) together yet. I get that’s the way the NFL works sometimes,” Rankins said, according to Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com. “We feel like when we’ve got our guys and we’re operating on all cylinders, we can be really special. We look forward to putting that on display on Sunday Night Football. (The offense) is rolling right now. It’s on us to uphold our end and doing it the rest of the way.”

Rankins left that loss to Kansas City, returned, then left again before missing the team’s next three games. He was the key piece the Bengals added in an attempt to offset the loss of DJ Reader in free agency to the Detroit Lions.

While he’s been out, Hill missed time, rookie Kris Jenkins Jr. slowly worked back from injury and rookie McKinnley Jackson only just recently got off injured reeve.

If Rankins is right, the defense might finally be able to pick up some of the slack and balance the scales a little to help support what is currently an MVP-like performance from Joe Burrow on offense.

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Sheldon Rankins injury update: Latest news on Cincinnati Bengals DL

An updated injury outlook for Bengals defender Sheldon Rankins.

Based on recent roster moves with injured players, the Cincinnati Bengals appear to be getting some reinforcements on defense soon. 

But Sheldon Rankins is the exception.

Rankins appeared in two games this season after coming over in free agency and suffered a hamstring injury. He’s missed two since the injury.

While the Bengals didn’t find the injury serious enough to stash him on injured reserve, he’s also not nearing a return, either.

So goes a small update from Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic: “Sheldon Rankins is still a week or two away from returning from his hamstring injury, but he’s the lone lineman not back onto the practice field.”

From the sounds of it, Rankins will miss Week 5 against the Baltimore Ravens and the Week 6 primetime game against the New York Giants, if not longer.

Of course, hamstring injuries can be fickle things, which might partially explain why the team didn’t put him on IR.

Without Rankins, the Bengals will hope B.J. Hill can get back from a hamstring injury of his own and throw even more on the plate of a rookie in the middle of a breakout.

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Tee Higgins, Sheldon Rankins injury updates ahead of Week 3 vs. Commanders

Injury updates on two key Bengals players before they take on the Washington Commanders on Monday Night Football.

(This story was updated to add new information.)

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins keeps pacing toward a return from a hamstring injury that cost him the first two games of the season.

The same doesn’t seem to apply to defensive lineman Sheldon Rankins, though.

Higgins and Rankins were the big focal points of Friday’s injury report, the second of the week before the team takes on the Washington Commanders on Monday night.

There, Higgins again worked “limited” like the day prior. Rankins was out of practice yet again.

While the wideout room has received some unexpected help from Jermaine Burton and now seems ready to get Higgins back, the same doesn’t apply to the defensive line.

With B.J. Hill also not practicing on Friday after a hamstring injury, like Rankins, knocked him out of the Week 2 game, the Bengals had to go sign 34-year-old free agent Lawrence Guy for help.

Barring something unexpected, it will be Guy and names like Zach Carter and Jay Tufele tasked with keeping Washington’s running game in check up the middle.

Update: Bengals head coach Zac Taylor confirmed on Saturday that Higgins will play against the Commanders while Rankins will be out, according to Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic.

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Bengals free-agency signings boast stunning impact on win-share projections

A few specific Bengals signings swung the win projections in a big way.

With the NFL season officially beginning, there is still a lot of uncertainty about what lies ahead for the Cincinnati Bengals, but Cynthia Frelund, an analytics expert at NFL.com used data from the past 12 NFL seasons to try to make that picture a little more clear.

Using a model that went through 1,000,000 simulations of every single regular season game, Frelund projected win totals for every AFC team in the 2024 season, while also vetting those totals with “real football people” like coaches and front office members.

Here’s what Frelund had to say about the Bengals, noting that their free agency efforts this offseason seem to have been a very big success.

I told you earlier that Cincinnati’s fourth-place schedule drove value in what I calculate to be the most challenging division in the NFL. Ahead of the preseason, the Bengals were my model’s pick to win the division. This tells you how much Ja’Marr Chase’s hold-in impacts this team.

One of my favorite notes on the Bengals is that adding DT Sheldon Rankins and safeties Vonn Bell and Geno Stone this offseason drove the win-share projection for the whole defense up three games.

The average win total for Cincinnati over all of those projections was 10.4 wins, which wouldn’t be a bad record in what should be a strong AFC North yet again. She also included the ceiling for the Bengals (12.6 wins) and the floor (7.5 wins).

Their ceiling was higher than every other team in the division, although the Baltimore Ravens average total (10.5) and floor (8.5) were slightly higher. However, if everything goes right for Cincinnati, the model seems to think they can get back on top of the division after a disappointing fourth-place finish last year.

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Bengals’ Sheldon Rankins arrives and drops epic Super Bowl quote

Sheldon Rankins is here for the Lombardi Trophy.

Cincinnati Bengals defensive lineman Sheldon Rankins ended his absence from the team on Tuesday, putting in work on the field with teammates.

He also undoubtedly won over plenty of fans off the field, too.

Rankins said he’s been training away from the team before these voluntary OTAs and holds himself to a high standard.

He also said he could feel the goal the second he walked inside Paycor Stadium.

“I think we’re really good. Just seeing the guys out there. The way they’re moving around. Seeing the level of talent in our room, I’m really ecstatic about what we can do. Super Bowl or bust,” Rankins said, according to Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com. “That was part of my decision coming here.

Rankins added: “Once you get here, you can feel it in the building. The way people talk, the way people act. The way people treat you. First class all the way around. Everything is geared to playing in February in New Orleans.”

Rankins has some huge cleats to fill as he and others combine to fill the void left by DJ Reader.

But the mindset, if nothing else, sure seems like a culture fit with a team attempting to get back to the playoffs and go on a run.

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Bengals comment on shift from DJ Reader to Sheldon Rankins

The Bengals know they’re making a big change along the defensive line.

The Cincinnati Bengals will have a much different-looking defense in 2024 after the loss of DJ Reader and filling the void with Sheldon Rankins.

Just ask Bengals director of pro scouting Steven Radicevic.

Radicevic recently sat down with Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com and brought up that fan-favorite combo of Larry Ogunjobi and B.J. Hill when asked about the frustrations with how free agency turned out along the defensive line:

SR: Yeah. Obviously (Sheldon) Rankins is a different style of player than what we had with DJ (Reader), but he’s going to help us with the interior rush and B.J. (Hill) is going to pair up really well inside. We haven’t really had that combo since Larry (Ogunjobi) and B.J. were rolling together. The interior rush is something we were missing and we’re hopeful that Rankins will give us that.

As outsiders have opined since free agency’s opening salvo, the Bengals look quite different in the trenches with Reader gone and Rankins traditionally viewed as a pass-rusher before anything else.

That said, the lack of interior pass-rush was a major issue last year that didn’t do the edge rushers any favors, either, so the team is clearly confident with its schematic fits and possibilities given the current depth chart.

For his part, Reader recently commented again on his Bengals departure in an interesting manner. Former nose tackle Josh Tupou remains a free agent and it is something the team could still look to address in the draft, too.

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B/R found the perfect destination for former Saints starter in free agency

Andrus Peat remains unsigned in free agency, but Bleacher Report believes he’d be a perfect fit for this AFC Super Bowl contender:

There are still plenty of New Orleans Saints free agents searching for their new team, and the most notable of them might be Andrus Peat. New Orleans declined to re-sign Peat and in turn suffered a $13 million dead cap hit. Saints head coach Dennis Allen has left the door open to Peat returning to New Orleans this offseason, but the team signed Oli Udoh to fill a similar role on the depth chart.

So where could Peat end up? Bleacher Report’s Alex Kay thinks the former Saint would be a perfect fit with the Cincinnati Bengals, writing:

The Cincinnati Bengals would be a great fit for Peat, especially after they let incumbent tackle Jonah Williams walk in free agency and brought in Trent Brown as his replacement on the right side of the line. Brown has a history of inconsistent play and could struggle to live up to the $4.8 million deal he inked this offseason.

The great part of Peat’s skill set is he has the versatility to play guard or tackle. Peat has been viewed as a tackle in the offseason by publications ignoring his more expansive history as a guard. Signing right tackle Trent Brown doesn’t take Peat off the table at all. He’ll be inexpensive and can compete at both tackle or guard on the left side.

The offseason has been quiet for Peat. The versatile offensive lineman has visited with the Titans, but nothing came from it. Pairing him with the Bengals makes a lot of sense. Their Super Bowl window remains open, and protecting Joe Burrow will be imperative to ensuring it doesn’t close. Peat will help fortify their protection. He’d also be joining some familiar faces in Cincinnati like former Saints draft picks Trey Hendrickson, Sheldon Rankins, and Vonn Bell.

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