Eric Kendricks to Minnesota: Full Draft-Pick Breakdown

The Minnesota Vikings with their second pick drafted a versatile and instinctive linebacker in Eric Kendricks, who just so happens to join best friend and former teammate Anthony Barr, who was drafted ninth overall in 2014. The pick represents both value and the ability to fulfill a need—ranked 25th overall on a consensus of draft rankings.

The Vikings indicated, in a press conference I attended Friday, that Kendricks could compete for either their "Will" linebacker position or their "Mike" position, and his versatility should give the team a number of options. It may mean kicking Chad Greenway inside and playing Kendricks outside, doing the opposite, or even starting Audie Cole on the inside with Kendricks on the outside and Greenway backing them up.

Kendricks is not generally considered athletic, but he happens to be athletic in the exact ways that predict success for linebackers. Creating a 1-10 scale for athleticism (5 is average) based on workout scores, one can see that athletic linebackers tend to do better.

Player	Combine Score	Solo Tackle MS	TFL MS
Patrick Willis	10.0	17.0	17.4
Bobby Wagner	9.3	12.6	15.1
Jerod Mayo	8.3	8.8	12.8
Luke Kuechly	8.5	18.8	16.7
Derrick Johnson	8.9	11.5	15.2
Lavonte David	7.8	22.7	21.1
Navorro Bowman	8.2	11.9	18.0
Eric Kendricks	8.0	16.4	15.8

Player	Combine Score	Solo Tackle MS	TFL MS
Patrick Willis	10.0	17.0	17.4
Bobby Wagner	9.3	12.6	15.1
Jerod Mayo	8.3	8.8	12.8
Luke Kuechly	8.5	18.8	16.7
Derrick Johnson	8.9	11.5	15.2
Lavonte David	7.8	22.7	21.1
NaVorro Bowman	8.2	11.9	18.0
London Fletcher	9.8	38.8	12.5
D'Qwell Jackson	5.2	15.1	13.8
Paul Posluszny	7.6	13.1	12.8
Lawrence Timmons	7.7	11.1	17.1
Jonathan Vilma	8.1	8.7	4.6
Daryl Washington	5.8	22.7	21.1
Eric Kendricks	8.0	16.4	15.8

For the most part, that means running fast for your size, but not just in the 40-yard dash, but with fast 20-yard and 10-yard splits. The expected 40-yard dash for a linebacker of 232 pounds is 4.68 seconds, and his was 4.61. But in addition to that, he ran his 20-yard split faster than 2.68 seconds and his 10-yard split faster than 1.62 seconds—both of which are athletic benchmarks with a historical relationship to linebacker play.

He added to those scores with positive marks in his bench press, short-shuttle time and three-cone time, which exceeded all of the benchmarks that have correlated to linebacker play (the benchmarks are 18 reps, 4.39 seconds and 7.25 seconds, respectively).

His score of 8.0 was higher than all but seven of the 242 linebackers eligible for the 2015 draft whose data are archived at ThreeSigmaAthlete.com—a website that catalogues an approximation of Nike's SPARQ metric, which is designed to measure athleticism. In that metric, Kendricks ranked fifth of the linebackers.

The pick also matches the Vikings' historical model at the position, as well.

Player	40-Yard Dash	Vertical Leap	Broad Jump	Explosion Index
Simoni Lawrence	4.59	40	123	0.96
Terrell Manning	4.79	32	114	0.84
Dom Decicco	4.64	N/A	N/A	N/A
Mike Zimmer	4.72	31.5	112	0.82
Brandon Watts	4.41	37.5	122	0.89
Anthony Barr	4.56	34.5	119	0.92
Justin Jackson	4.44	39.5	123	0.97
Josh Kaddu	4.67	34	120	0.88
Justin Anderson	4.68	37	121	0.92
Eric Kendricks	4.61	38	124	0.95
Average NFL LB	4.75	33.5	115	0.87

There's more to Kendricks than the body in which he plays, however. He represents the unique combination of being the most reactive and the most cerebral linebacker in the class, playing not just with instinct but with awareness. The UCLA product consistently plays to the opponent's tendency and with the down-and-distance in mind.

He can blend patience and urgency seamlessly, knowing when he needs to react quickly and when he needs to continue reading the play. Kendricks will key out opposing offensive linemen and study their habits in order to separate play fakes from genuine plays and is rarely sucked up by play-action passing as a result.

That instinct allows him to always be around the ball and is a big part of the reason he was the only FBS linebacker with over 100 solo tackles last year. It's also why Pro Football Focus gave Kendricks the highest coverage grade of any linebacker in the FBS last year.

Often noted for a lack of power, Kendricks' real issue isn't strength but technique. He hits too high and his feet don't set when taking on blocks, making him look easily overwhelmed by lead blockers and offensive linemen, especially when looking at games like his Stanford outing—probably the worst game he's had in years.

But there's a reason that heavy hands were one of the first things general manager Rick Spielman mentioned in his presser after Day 2 of the draft—because Kendricks really does have a lot of strength, and it can be surprising at times. Even when his hands hit high when taking on blockers, he jolts offensive linemen back and has ripped aside heavy guys in the past.

GIF courtesy draftbreakdown.com

When assembled media asked Barr which one of the two was faster, Barr—who ran a 4.41 40-yard dash at his pro day—immediately answered that he was. When asked who was stronger, Barr didn't have an answer.

He does have a weakness in blitzing, though that, like his take-on skills, may be driven more by technique than physical ability. That will create a problem in making sure the Double-A Gap looks on third down are successful. He'll still be a good scheme fit however, given how fast he buzzes to the flats and his ability to cover players in the slot.

His responsibilities against the run should free up the blockers ahead of him, allowing him to sift through the trash—something he does with incredible consistency. His situational awareness and advanced ability to read the offense will be important in the pattern-match coverage scheme the Vikings like to use, and it could provide an answer to who will call signals for the defense after Chad Greenway is gone.

By adding the best coverage linebacker in the draft, as well as the most instinctive draft-eligible player at any position, the Vikings immediately upgraded their linebacker corps and have shored up one of the biggest weaknesses they had last year in run defense.