At least one Las Vegas host isn’t buying rumors that the Raiders are the “front runners” to trade for Trey Hendrickson, but one of the team’s former greats shared a strong endorsement of the idea on Thursday.
Lincoln Kennedy thinks the Raiders should “pour everything into the defense” to slow down the Kansas City Chiefs and believes Hendrickson would be a perfect complement for Maxx Crosby.
“Trey Hendrickson brings a unique possibility to the table and I’m going to say I think they should make a move for him,” Kennedy said on the Locked on Raiders Squad Show podcast.
“The reason why is he knows how to rush over the left tackle, over the right side of the defense. They have been trying with Max Crosby over the years. Maxx Crosby’s strength is over the right tackle, the left side of defense. He feels more comfortable getting his left hand down and having that go from there. Hendrickson has always quietly been one of the most productive players at defensive end spot,” Kennedy continued.
“He doesn’t get to talk about like the Myles Garretts and the T.J. Watts and all those other guys. But you look at his numbers, they’ve been steadily consistent,, and the thing also is that he plays the run really well.”
The initial report that the Raiders are interested in Hendrickson came from Sports Illustrated insider Hondo Carpenter and he believes the Bengals might try to hold on to Hendrickson into the start of the regular season.
Carpenter added that nothing in immanent on Hendrickson and the situation could still go in a lot of different directions. He thinks the Raiders are the favorites, but a lot of teams are in the mix.
What we do know, however, is that the Bengals and Hendrickson have reached a point where something needs to happen. Whether it’s a trade or Hendrickson getting a new deal with the Bengals, there ought to be some kind of resolution in the next few weeks.
It would be foolish of the Bengals to let Hendrickson’s contract loom over the entire season if he’s willing to let it get to that point.
x: @raidersbeat
Raiders management would be well served to heed the advice of someone, Lincoln Kennedy, who has first hand knowledge of how offensive lines and defensive lines work. Of course, all management personnel believe that they know best but it would be negligent not to give consideration to a Hall of Famer’s unique insights on what does and doesn’t work.
In short, generational talents, and the opportunity to acquire them, don’t present themselves very often but when they do, they should be embraced and acted on. This move would go a long way to, if not exceed, compensating for the loss of Christian Wilkinson, period.
Al Davis never hesitated in acquiring Bubba Smith, Mike Haynes, Lyle Alzado, Bo Jackson, Jerry Rice, Eric Allen, Ronnie Lott, Eric Dickerson, Jeff Hostetler, Maurice Jones-Drew and the list goes on… Maybe, just maybe, current Raiders management should take a page from the Al Davis book of adding talent to this team.
To be honest, Al Davis would also be going after Micah Parson and Terry McClaurin because Al Davis thought big and went against the grain. That’s what made him a maverick and extremely successful. That’s why his legacy is the stuff of legend and current Raiders management not so much so.
Hendrickson isn’t a “generational talent”. He’s good although if a 2nd wasn’t getting it done earlier in the year how is a 4th getting it done now. I say a 4th because it’s not just the pick as reported Cincinnati also wants a player. It’s also then having to give a good player a raise on the way in the door. Right now he’s Cincy’s #1 DE but with us he’s #2. Now Parsons would be a better player and a true generational talent. He would be walking in the door as either 1a or 1b. Him and Maxx would be fun to watch and could carry the team since the offense will be a work in progress. By the way Al had passed when MJD was brought in. I get the point though as Al had no problem bringing in talented players who couldn’t make it elsewhere. Sometimes that was detrimental to the future of the team. R.Seymour although a great player wasn’t worth a 1st at that time in his career because another DE went the next year named Fletcher Cox.
Raider Nation,
Thanks for understanding my point eventhough I missed on the Maurice Jones-Drew aspect.
Still, to the point, in my opinion andIbelieveyou’ll agree, the Raiders are in NEED of an influx of talent, not unlike most teams, if they want to compete, within their own division, ultimately for a Super Bowl title. While there are players available to enhance this team, Raiders management needs to strike while they are obtainable. That’s my primary point. Good observations on your part though. It’s always good to read the observations of someone knowledge on the topic.