Sam Hubbard

A Cincinnati native (Archbishop Moeller High School) and 2018 Bengals third-round draft pick who has been a full-time starter at RDE since '19 and is a cornerstone player on defense ... Considered among the league's top DEs against the run, he has led the Bengals in TFLs in each of the past two seasons, with 12 in 2021 and 11 in '22 ... 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 started each of his last 66 games played (including postseason) dating back to 2019 ... Enters 2023 with 30.5 career sacks, second-most among players from the 2018 draft class ... Has recorded at least six sacks in four of his five NFL seasons ... 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 ... Selected as Bengals' nominee for the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award in each of the past two seasons.

A Cincinnati native (Archbishop Moeller High School) and 2018 Bengals third-round draft pick who has been a full-time starter at RDE since '19 and is a cornerstone player on defense ... Considered among the league's top DEs against the run, he has led the Bengals in TFLs in each of the past two seasons, with 12 in 2021 and 11 in '22 ... 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 started each of his last 66 games played (including postseason) dating back to 2019 ... Enters 2023 with 30.5 career sacks, second-most among players from the 2018 draft class ... Has recorded at least six sacks in four of his five NFL seasons ... 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 ... Selected as Bengals' nominee for the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award in each of the past two seasons.

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, 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 saw snaps at DT in nickel packages ... Also served as lead-blocker in goal-line situations, and helped HB Joe Mixon to one-yard TD runs in both Game 1 at Indianapolis and Game 10 at Baltimore ... Logged first career sack on Sept. 13 vs. Baltimore, downing QB Joe Flacco ... On Oct. 7 vs. Miami, recovered a Ryan Tannehill fumble (forced by DE Carlos Dunlap) late in the 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 Raiders 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 defensive line in tackles (76), and ranked second on team in sacks (8.5) ... Also had three PDs and a FF ... Recorded two sacks of Russell Wilson for a combined 16 yards in season opener at Seattle, and recorded a team-high 10 tackles ... Had seven tackles on Sept. 22 at Buffalo, and added a FF of Bills RB T.J. Yeldon (Bengals recovered) ... On Dec. 15 vs. New England, Hubbard brought down Tom Brady for a 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 ... Made defensive play of the game on Dec. 27 at Houston, when with 1:35 remaining and the Texans trailing by three, he sacked Deshaun Watson and jarred the ball loose (Bengals recovered), helping to seal a win for Cincinnati.

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 ... Led defensive line in snaps played in both the regular season (877 of 1124) and postseason (246 of 274) ... Helped Cincinnati rank fifth leaguewide in rushing defense (102.5 yards per game) during the regular season ... Posted career-high 2.5 sacks on Oct. 24 at Baltimore, including a seven-yard takedown of Lamar Jackson that forced a punt ... On Nov. 21 at Las Vegas, recovered a fumble late in the fourth quarter to preserve a Bengals win ... In four postseason games, had 22 tackles, including five for losses (led team), along with three sacks, a PD and a FF ... Had a seven-yard sack of Derek Carr in the Wild Card Playoff vs. Las Vegas that forced a punt, which the Bengals turned into a FG drive ... With the Bengals protecting a three-point lead inside their own 10 yard line with less than two minutes remaining in the AFC Championship at Kansas City, he recorded back-to-back sacks of Patrick Mahomes and forced the Chiefs to kick a FG to send the game into OT ... Had eight tackles, with two for losses, in Super Bowl LVI vs. L.A. Rams ... Helped Bengals hold the Rams to 1.9 yards per carry on 23 attempts.

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 left 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) ... Posted first sack of the season on Sept. 18 at Dallas, bringing down QB Cooper Rush for a five-yard loss on third down to force a Cowboys punt in the fourth quarter ... Had seven tackles and a PD on Oct. 16 at New Orleans, and teamed up with DT B.J. Hill to sack QB Andy Dalton in final minute of fourth quarter, forcing Saints into a fourth-and-17 ... Logged nine tackles, a sack and a FF on Oct. 31 at Cleveland (fumble recovered by Bengals in second quarter) ... 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 ... Early 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 Patrick Mahomes for two-yard loss in third quarter, then later in the quarter recovered a Mahomes fumble at the Chiefs' 45-yard line to set up a game-tying TD drive.

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 tackles for losses and 17 sacks (15th in school history), 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 Crusaders, and helped 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 ultimately opting for football scholarship at Ohio State ... Interned with then-Buckeye teammate and current Bengals QB Joe Burrow at Goldman Sachs in New York City during summer of 2016; also interned with JPMorgan Chase in spring of '17 ... 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; the foundation had raised more than $600,000 through the 2023 offseason ... Has been the Bengals' nominee for the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award in each of the past two seasons.