Gone are the days when the Baltimore Ravens shied away from spending big money on their pass rush unit. They were clearly tired of losing talented sack artists (Za’Darius Smith and Matthew Judon, to name two) and of cheaping out on replacements.
In free agency, the Ravens finally got their guy in Trey Hendrickson. They paid him a very lucrative contract of $112 million over four years, and while he’s been one of the best pass rushers in the NFL over the past several years, he’s also 31 years old coming off an injury. That part has people skeptical.
Through training camp, though, Hendrickson is easing those concerns. It began with an excellent kickoff to his Ravens career in the offseason program and has continued through the first two weeks of camp. According to BaltimoreRavens.com staff writer Clifton Brown, Hendrickson “looks ready for Week 1 right now.”
Trey Hendrickson is already turning up the intensity at Baltimore Ravens training camp
The Ravens know what they’re getting in Hendrickson. He’s a game-wrecker ready to take the opposing quarterback’s face off at every snap of the ball, and it shows in his stats. He’s a four-time Pro Bowler, one-time All-Pro, and has 81 career sacks to his name—I’d say that’s pretty good.
Hendrickson should be the All-Pro-level pass rusher that the Ravens haven’t had since Terrell Suggs struck fear into opposing offensive fronts. Still, a four-year investment is no joke for a player who is sitting on the wrong side of 30. Even with all that recent production, he has some people to prove wrong.
But if you’re one of those people somehow concerned about Hendrickson, allow Lamar Jackson to ease your worries. The two-time MVP had to deal with Trey Hendrickson on the Cincinnati Bengals for five years, and now, he’s relieved to play alongside him.
Hendrickson has quickly impressed Jackson, too. In an interview on SiriusXM, Jackson spoke about what Hendrickson is bringing to the defense.
“To have [Hendrickson] on our side…it’s extraordinary. And I’m loving it,” Jackson said. “He’s gonna make the opposing team’s life difficult on offense. He’s already making our life difficult on offense in training camp, and man, it’s ridiculous.”
Evidently, Hendrickson is starting to emerge as the missing piece to the Ravens' defense.
Baltimore’s big-fish signing hasn’t had the opportunity to bring down the quarterback in camp, but clearly he’s still making life extremely difficult. His efforts are obviously roughing up the opposing offensive line, and that should translate into sacks when it counts.
With each passing day, that itch to actually hit the quarterback is getting harder to ignore. The intensity is only going to skyrocket from here, and if Hendrickson's already firing on all cylinders, there’s no telling what version of him we could get by the time the 2026 regular season kicks off. It should be really exciting to watch him go to work.
Add us as a preferred source on Google