Philadelphia Eagles NFL Draft: Eric Kendricks

Jan 2, 2015; San Antonio, TX, USA; UCLA Bruins linebacker Eric Kendricks holds the outstanding defensive player trophy after the game against the Kansas State Wildcats in the 2015 Alamo Bowl at Alamodome. UCLA defeated Kansas State 40-35. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

7) Kendricks in zone coverage once again but this time he goes to assist on a tackle and actually punches the ball out, forcing a fumble. It was then picked up and returned by a DB for a touchdown, huge play for Kendricks.

8) Here’s the last play of Kendricks against Virginia that I’ll highlight but it’s probably my favorite play I’ve ever seen Kendricks make. He is man to man against the RB out of the backfield in coverage, stays with the route perfectly (although he uses his hands a bit). Then jumps the route, gets the pick and returns it for a touchdown. Just a beautiful overall play by him, outstanding instincts to jump the route like that.

9) This next play is from UCLA vs. Oregon on October, 12, 2014. It wasn’t Kendricks’ best game by any means but he had a couple of strong plays that stood out to me. This first one shows his instincts on full display as he reads the outside run right away and attacks it. Although he doesn’t get the tackle, Kendricks is the one of the first defensive players there and cuts off where the ball carrier wanted to go.

10) Here’s Kendricks doing a good job in the running game again. Takes on the offensive linemen, sheds the block and brings down the RB for a short gain.

11) Last but not least, I wanted to show Kendricks as a pass rusher. He actually had his best game of 2014 as a pass rusher during the Alamo Bowl against Kansas State. Kendricks finished the game with two sacks and here is the first. It appears as though his responsibility was to cover the RB but once he stayed in to block, Kendricks realized that and went for the sack and got it.

12) The last play I’ll be highlighting for this profile is Kendricks’ second sack at the Alamo Bowl. On this play, it’s a designed play and he uses a shimmy or juke type of move that freezes the guard and lets him get the sack. People knock Kendricks for his speed but he looked fast enough on this play and the move was impressive as well.