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Pass Coverage
Where Kendricks stands out the most from the rest of this class is in his coverage ability. He’s a very agile linebacker that can turn his hips well and keep up with most running backs and tight ends in man coverage. He also has some good hands and a good eye for the ball.
Here’s Kendricks on a pick six.
What Kendricks does on this play is textbook. He stops and turns right with the running back wrapping his arms around the back’s waist to help keep up with him. That’s allowed contact and he never pulls on the player’s jersey, just stabilizes himself and provides coverage. His awareness to jump the route and get the ball though is something you don’t see in too many linebackers. Kendricks knows how to cover his assignments in man and he has no trouble doing so. He has the speed and agility to stay on running backs, and is physical enough to handle tight ends. In fact, he’s often too physical.
On the last play Kendricks was called for pass interference.
On this play Kendricks probably should have been called for pass interference had the receiver not landed out of bounds.
You can very clearly see Kendricks holding onto his jersey in the play and he never gets his head around to look for the ball. That’s a very easy PI call in the NFL.
Kendricks also has a problem of biting on the play action when he’s in coverage. On this play Kendricks is assigned to the tight end #85.
Kendricks bites on the play action and leaves his man who ends up wide open in the back corner of the endzone.
On this next play Kendricks is slow to react to the throw and ends up out of position for the pass.
Some more of Kendricks in coverage.
Where Kendricks will struggle is the fact that he’s a bit of a tweener in coverage. He’s too short to cover bigger tight ends, and he’s too slow to cover faster running backs. Kendricks is in a bit of an unfortunate spot which leads me to think he would likely only be the dime linebacker in a zone defense. He would fit in much better as a 4-3 WILL or even a 3-4 WILL than he would as a MIKE in any defense.
Pass Rush
Kendricks was not asked to rush the pass at all as a Bruin. In the all the games I watched he blitzed the QB once. And here it is.
He goes in completely unblocked (after completely selling the fact that he was blitzing) and gets a hit on the QB, but his hesitation on the mistimed snap caused him to possibily miss a sack or at least a hurried throw.
Just going off of Kendricks’ ability to shed his blocks, his short arms, and relatively low weight and height, I don’t think he can be an effective pass rusher. He shows a real lack of moves and technicality in his hand placement when attempting to shed blocks. Kendricks likely does not have the ability to rush the passer effectively and should not be drafted to do so.
Pro Comparison and Draft Projection
Pro Comparison: Kendricks probably best compares to a his brother Mychal. Eric is quick, agile, and a good tackler. Eric is essentially a less athletic version of Mychal. Like his brother, Eric likely can get up to 240 pounds, possibly even 245 and become a force in the run game and the passing game. If Kendricks bulked up to 240 then he would very likely move to MIKE in the 4-3 where his intelligence could shine.
Draft Projection: I see Kendricks as a late 1st rounder and the first ILB off the board. I believe the Packers at 30 would be a very good landing place for him.