Sam Hubbard

A Cincinnati native (Archbishop Moeller High School) and 2018 Bengals third-round draft pick who has been a full-time starter at LDE since '19 ... Stout against the run, Hubbard has 52 career TFLs with 30 since 2021 ... His 36.5 career sacks are third most by any player from 2018 rookie class (draft picks and CFAs) ... Has at least six sacks in five of his six NFL seasons ... Responsible for one of the most iconic plays in team history, a 98-yard FR return for a TD in the fourth quarter of the 2022 Wild Card Playoff vs. Baltimore ... Has played primarily DE throughout career, but has also seen action at DT in nickel packages. ... Played safety in high school, where he helped Moeller to back-to-back state titles as a junior and senior, before switching to DE at Ohio State ... Was Bengals' nominee for Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award in 2021 and '22.

A Cincinnati native (Archbishop Moeller High School) and 2018 Bengals third-round draft pick who has been a full-time starter at LDE since '19 ... Stout against the run, Hubbard has 52 career TFLs with 30 since 2021 ... His 36.5 career sacks are third most by any player from 2018 rookie class (draft picks and CFAs) ... Has at least six sacks in five of his six NFL seasons ... Responsible for one of the most iconic plays in team history, a 98-yard FR return for a TD in the fourth quarter of the 2022 Wild Card Playoff vs. Baltimore ... Has played primarily DE throughout career, but has also seen action at DT in nickel packages. ... Played safety in high school, where he helped Moeller to back-to-back state titles as a junior and senior, before switching to DE at Ohio State ... Was Bengals' nominee for Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award in 2021 and '22.

Career transactions:

Selected by Cincinnati in third round of 2018 NFL Draft (77th overall) ... Signed with Bengals on 6-21-18 ... Signed contract extension with Bengals on 7-26-21.

Pro career:

2018—Played in all 16 games as a rookie, and totaled six sacks (third on team), a FF and a FR ... Played primarily as a rotational defensive lineman, seeing action on 508 of 1129 possible defensive snaps (45 percent) ... Primary position was DE, but also played DT in nickel packages ... Also served as lead-blocker in goal-line situations, and helped HB Joe Mixon to one-yard TD runs in Game 1 at Indianapolis and Game 10 at Baltimore ... Logged first career sack on Sept. 13 vs. Baltimore, bringing down QB Joe Flacco ... On Oct. 7 vs. Miami, recovered a Ryan Tannehill fumble (forced by DE Carlos Dunlap) late in fourth quarter and returned it 19 yards for a TD, putting the Bengals ahead by two scores and sealing a win ... On Dec. 16 vs. Oakland, had two sacks of QB Derek Carr, including a strip sack (recovered by Dunlap).

2019—Started 15 games at RDE ... Missed Game 13 at Cleveland due to knee injury ... Led D-line in tackles (76), and ranked second on team in sacks (8.5) ... Also had three PDs and a FF ... Recorded team-high 10 tackles and two sacks in season opener at Seattle ... Had seven tackles and a FF on Sept. 22 at Buffalo ... On Dec. 15 vs. New England, sacked QB Tom Brady for five-yard loss on a third down, forcing a Patriots punt ... Recorded six tackles and 1.5 sacks in season finale vs. Cleveland.

2020—Played in 13 games (all starts) ... Started five contests at RDE (Games 1-4, 9) and eight at LDE (Games 5, 10-16) ... Placed on Reserve/Injured (elbow) for Games 6-8 ... Totaled 62 tackles, two sacks, three PDs and one FF ... Had a strip sack of QB Deshaun Watson late in fourth quarter on Dec. 27 at Houston, helping seal Bengals win.

2021—Started 16 regular-season games and all four postseason games (all at LDE) ... Active/DNP in regular-season finale at Cleveland, as Cincinnati rested its starters for playoffs ... Led defensive line with 62 tackles, including 7.5 sacks (second on team) and 12 TFLs, with three PDs, a FF and two FRs ... Helped Cincinnati rank fifth leaguewide in rushing defense (102.5 yards per game) in regular season ... Posted career-high 2.5 sacks on Oct. 24 at Baltimore ... On Nov. 21 at Las Vegas, recovered a fumble late in fourth quarter to preserve Bengals win ... Tallied 22 tackles, with team-leading five TFLs and three sacks in postseason ... Sacked QB Derek Carr for seven-yard loss to force Raiders punt in Wild Card Playoff vs. Las Vegas ... Recorded a sack of QB Patrick Mahomes on back-to-back plays in final two minutes of fourth quarter in AFC Championship, forcing Chiefs to kick FG to send game into OT ... Had eight tackles, with two TFLs, in Super Bowl LVI vs. L.A. Rams.

2022—Played and started 15 regular-season games and all three postseason contests (all at LDE) ... Inactive for Game 15 at New England due to calf injury ... Recorded 60 tackles (34 solos), with 6.5 sacks and a team-leading 11 TFLs ... Also had three PDs and a FF ... Helped Bengals rank seventh leaguewide in rushing defense (106.6 yards per game) ... Had seven tackles with a half sack and a PD on Oct. 16 at New Orleans ... Logged nine tackles, a sack and a FF on Oct. 31 at Cleveland ... Recorded a sack in three straight games (Game 12 at Tennessee, Game 13 vs. Kansas City, Game 14 vs. Cleveland), with 14 total tackles in that span ... Had seven stops with one sack in the postseason ... In fourth quarter of Wild Card Playoff vs. Baltimore, recovered fumble by QB Tyler Huntley at Bengals' goal line and returned it 98 yards for what became game-winning TD; play marked the longest fumble return for TD in NFL postseason history, and longest TD of any kind in Bengals postseason history ... In AFC Championship at Kansas City, sacked QB Patrick Mahomes for two-yard loss in third quarter, then later in the quarter recovered a Mahomes fumble at Chiefs' 45-yard line to set up a game-tying TD drive.

2023—Played in 15 games (all starts) ... Inactive for two games (Games 9-10) due to ankle injury ... Recorded 58 tackles (38 solos), with six sacks and seven TFLs, along with two FRs ... Opened the year with season-high eight tackles on Sept. 10 at Cleveland ... In Week 3 vs. L.A. Rams, sacked QB Matthew Stafford for loss of eight yards on Rams' final drive in fourth quarter ... Recovered a fumble (forced by DE Trey Hendrickson) in fourth quarter on Oct. 8 at Arizona, setting up Bengals FG drive to extend lead ... On Oct. 15 vs. Seattle, sacked QB Geno Smith on fourth-and-goal late in fourth quarter to end potential go-ahead scoring drive ... Recorded six tackles with a sack on Oct. 29 at San Francisco ... Recovered fumble forced by Hendrickson on Dec. 31 at Kansas City, setting up Bengals TD drive in second quarter ... Sacked QB Jeff Driskel for seven-yard loss on Jan. 7 vs. Cleveland.

College:

Spent four years (2014-17) at Ohio State, with a redshirt season during the Buckeyes' national championship run in '14 ... Played in 40 career games (22 starts), and totaled 116 tackles, including 29.5 TFLs and 17 sacks, as well as one INT, three pass breakups, three FFs and two FRs ... Helped OSU to a combined record of 35-5 during his three seasons of action ... Also an accomplished student at OSU, he was a first-team Academic All-American (2016), three-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree ('15-17), and three-time OSU Scholar Athlete ('14-16).

High school/personal:

Hometown is Cincinnati ... Attended Archbishop Moeller High School in Cincinnati ... Played safety for the Crusaders, and helped lead team to state titles in junior (2012) and senior ('13) seasons ... Earned first-team Division I all-state honors (AP) as safety in 2013 ... Was committed to play lacrosse at Notre Dame, before accepting football scholarship at Ohio State ... Graduated from Ohio State with degree in finance; minored in history ... Started the Sam Hubbard Foundation in 2021, with the goal of bringing equitable access to food, education and a healthy lifestyle for all Cincinnatians ... Was selected as Bengals' nominee for the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award in 2021 and '22.