Eric Kendricks Offers NFL Rare Skill Set in 1st Round of Draft
Not so long ago, the NFL had a glut of stars at the linebacker position spread across the league.
Patrick Willis was the best at the position in the league for a long time. Ray Lewis was still clinging on to the final moments of his Hall of Fame career. NaVorro Bowman was emerging to contend for Willis' crown. Luke Kuechly pipped both players to the Defensive Player of the Year Award.
Even once you got past the initial options, stars such as Bobby Wagner, Lavonte David, Daryl Washington, Karlos Dansby, Brian Cushing, Jerod Mayo, Sean Lee and Derrick Johnson were all making cases for their spots atop the totem pole.
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For a variety of reasons, that quality isn't there right now.
Both Willis and Lewis have retired, Willis unexpectedly so this offseason. Bowman was expected to return from a torn ACL injury during last season, but he never managed to get back onto the field. Washington served a suspension for the 2014 season. Johnson, Mayo and Lee suffered major injuries last year.
Dansby and Cushing both played last year, but neither player is in his physical prime anymore—Dansby because of age and Cushing because of various injuries.
The league is transitioning to a new cast of stars at the position right now. Bowman, Kuechly, Wagner, David and Washington should all be prominent players in 2015 if they are fully healthy and available. Others who could join them are C.J. Mosley, Jamie Collins, DeAndre Levy, Dont'a Hightower, Mychal Kendricks, Sio Moore and Vontaze Burfict, among others.
In the past, the best linebackers in the league were primarily run-stuffers who dominated offensive linemen at the point of contact. As the players mentioned above suggest, that is no longer the case.
Instead of searching for lumbering powerhouses who could run through blockers, NFL teams are now focused on finding the flexible linebacker who can work in space and in tight spots. That is a very difficult player to find.
This year's draft only appears to offer one such option: Eric Kendricks.
Kendricks, whose older brother is Mychal Kendricks of the Philadelphia Eagles, has been a pivotal performer for the UCLA defense over the past four years. He stockpiled 480 total tackles, 26 of which came behind the line of scrimmage, and 10 sacks in 53 games.
He is expected to be a first-round pick in the 2015 draft and could feasibly go as high as the top 16. Plenty of teams need linebacker talent because the position takes so much punishment and demands so much versatility. The scarcity of Kendricks' skill set bloats his positional value, but that doesn't make his overall value a mirage.
The 23-year-old can immediately have a huge impact on whatever defense drafts him before becoming a foundation piece for the long term.
Kendricks is truly a sideline-to-sideline linebacker. He has the lateral agility to comfortably turn in space and accelerate to close on the football. On this play, we can see how Kendricks initially lines up to the far side of the field and drops into space.
He is drawn toward the running back running a short curl route from the backfield before recognizing the quarterback scrambling into the flat.
With his acceleration, Kendricks is able to easily transition to a position where he can close on the quarterback before he crosses the line of scrimmage. Kendricks doesn't over-pursue or approach the tackle recklessly. He makes a strong play at the point of contact to prevent any gain for the offense.
Control and discipline are major parts of what make Kendricks effective in space. Many linebackers can show off his athleticism, but that athleticism can often be wasted with players who don't know how to harness it.
On the onset, this appears to be a simple play for Kendricks. It is a simple play, but there's also more to it than that. Kendricks never rushed to his spot when he saw the running back moving toward the left side of the offense.
Instead, he moved with the back to meet him in the hole and not offer him the opportunity to cut back upfield past his inside shoulder.
On this play, Kendricks is asked to carry out a more difficult assignment. He is the left linebacker of the trio standing behind the defensive line. He is initially drawn forward at the snap but swerves away from an impending block to pursue the ball in the right flat.
Kendricks' momentum is carrying him toward the right sideline, but he is still able to comfortably track the ball-carrier and cut back with him when he attempts to break infield.
Being cerebral at the linebacker position is important. If you get too excited about trying to create a big play for your defense, you're just as likely to create a big play for the offense. Kendricks' commitment to being controlled and disciplined in pursuit on a consistent basis will go a long way in determining his success on the next level.
In pursuit of ball-carriers, Kendricks gets to show off his acceleration and change of direction ability. In coverage, he gets to show off his fluidity and ability to diagnose plays as they happen.
Mosley showed last year that talented coverage linebackers can immediately be effective in the NFL. Kendricks isn't as good as Mosley all-around, but he offers that same kind of ability in coverage. This play highlights the speed at which the linebacker plays.
Kendricks drops into a zone over the middle of the field and is initially drawn to the left by the quarterback's eyes and the route combinations of the offense.
The quarterback is expecting to be able to check the ball down to his back in space over the middle of the field. Although the back was able to catch the pass, he never had an opportunity to create yardage after the catch because of how quick Kendricks transitioned back to him.
He was able to hit the back as soon as the ball arrived.
Kendricks should be an impressive zone defender with some capability in man coverage. Covering NFL athletes coming out of the backfield is obviously more difficult than covering college backs, but if Kendricks lands behind a good pass rush, he could become a dangerous playmaker.
He caught five interceptions at UCLA, with three of those coming during his final season.
Fortunately for Kendricks, a couple of teams with linebacker needs and strong pass rushes are sitting in an area of the draft where he is expected to go. Both the Kansas City Chiefs and Houston Texans should be considered likely landing spots for the linebacker.
While both of those teams will be able to mask him in the running game to an extent, the most concerning aspect of Kendricks' play will remain his ability to shed blockers.
At the combine, Kendricks measured in at 6'0" and 232 pounds. He's not a small player, but he's also not particularly big for an NFL linebacker. Against bigger offensive linemen, he will need to perfect his hand usage and maximize his strength to consistently shed blockers successfully.
As the above play highlights, there were flashes of this ability during his time in college.
With his coverage ability, Kendricks only needs to be an adequate run defender to have value as a starter in the NFL. If he can elevate his ability in this area, his chances of being mentioned among the best at his position across the league will be very high.
Spending a first-round pick on a linebacker whose primary skill set doesn't lend itself to pass rushing probably isn't all that exciting for fans. Yet, the value of inside linebackers in today's NFL is similar to that of safeties.
The middle of the field is so important because of how offenses approach the game now.
Kendricks has some minor concerns, but as a prospect he should be a potentially exciting addition for any defense. The biggest concern may be the durability of those who play the position as of late. Linebackers take as much of a beating as running backs, so it's no surprise that so much turnover exists at the top.
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