Eric Kendricks Has Consistent Ranking Among 2021 LBs
Dustin Baker
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In the annals of Minnesota Vikings history, the 2015 NFL Draft was one of the most impressive events on record. During that weekend, Minnesota welcomed to the team Trae Waynes, Eric Kendricks, Danielle Hunter, and Stefon Diggs.
All of those men have built longstanding careers with two of the men, Hunter and Kendricks, remaining part of the Vikings organization. Waynes bolted in the offseason of 2020 – a mass exodus ordeal including several veteran Vikings – while Diggs was famously traded to the Buffalo Bills for, what would turn out to be, Justin Jefferson, Kenny Willekes, Camryn Bynum, Janarius Robinson, and Zach Davidson.
Hunter was injured for all of 2020, so his 2021 performance will be particularly telling. He’s on the precipice of receiving a ginormous contract extension and needs this upcoming season to be a “normal” one for him, entailing 10+ sacks.
Kendricks missed time in 2020, too. And as far as Kendricks went – so went the Vikings. Mike Zimmer’s team threw together a mini-playoff push but absolutely crumbled when Kendricks was hurt right before a Week 13 contest versus the Jacksonville Jaguars. All Minnesota needed to do was beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers or Chicago Bears for playoff entry. It simply wasn’t in the tarot cards.
A return of Kendricks for 2021 is especially important. Why? He’s one of the league’s very best off-ball linebackers. That’s no VikingsTerritory-infused exaggeration, either. Heading into 2021, accredited entities consider Kendricks the third-best non-EDGE linebacker in all of football.
Pro Football Focus started the linebacker ranking festivities in May. Only Bobby Wagner and Fred Warner were placed higher than the Vikings UCLA alumnus. PFF’s Sam Monson said of Kendricks:
“Showing there is more than one way to get it done, Eric Kendricks played a more conventional college position than Warner but has been the other superstar linebacker in coverage over the past couple of years. Including the playoffs, Kendricks has 17 pass breakups and the highest PFF coverage grade among all linebackers (91.7) over the past two seasons.”
And CBS Sports exactly followed suit one month later with the same ranking theme. Just like PFF, Jordan Dajani ranked Wagner and Warner ahead of Kendricks, nestling Kendricks into the #3 slot. Dajani wrote:
“Linebackers who can cover extremely well help their defenses in a big way, and Kendricks is one of the best. He has the highest PFF Grade (90.6) of all linebackers since 2019, and was tied for first among all linebackers in interceptions last year with a career-high three picks despite missing five games. Even with missed time, he still recorded 107 combined tackles, as he is an important piece in stopping the run as well. According to Ben Goessling of the Star Tribune, the Vikings gave up at least 390 yards in four of their final five games last season with Kendricks out due to injury, and allowed 463 rushing yards in back-to-back losses to the Bears and Saints. No linebacker has recorded more passes defended over the past five seasons than Kendricks. Now back healthy, expect him to have another huge season in 2021. According to the Star Tribune, Minnesota’s star linebacker had three big plays in pass coverage during the second day of the Vikings’ mandatory minicamp earlier this month that were worth writing about.”
For the most part, Kendricks keeps getting better, aside from a teensy dip in 2020 when the Vikings defense struggled for the first time since 2013. These are his yearly PFF grades since joining the NFL
- 2015 = 59.2
- 2016 = 68.9
- 2017 = 65.4
- 2018 = 64.1
- 2019 = 90.2
- 2020 = 82.6
Kendricks’ contract runs through 2023, setting up a free-agent payday in the spring of 2024. Per OverTheCap.com, he’s the 17th highest-paid inside linebacker in the NFL as of June 2021.