Last offseason, the Chargers made sweeping changes to virtually every level of their defense. Through trade and free agency, they acquired seven defensive players who entered the season as starters or key rotational contributors. And how those new players would jell was a prominent question entering the spring and summer.
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This offseason has been markedly different. The Chargers had far less cap space — largely because of how aggressive they were in 2022 — and, thus far, have added just one external free agent: linebacker Eric Kendricks. The vast majority of the team’s personnel additions, on both sides of the ball, came in the draft last month.
Coach Brandon Staley and general manager Tom Telesco were building the structural foundation of the defense last offseason. This offseason, they were looking for a finishing touch — and they believe they have found it in Kendricks, who was cut by the Vikings in March.
Kendricks will replace Drue Tranquill as the Chargers’ Mike linebacker. The Chargers let Tranquill walk in free agency, and he signed with the division-rival Chiefs. Kendricks is expected to take over the green dot and serve as the defense’s signal-caller in the huddle. That was Tranquill’s role from Week 4 on last season.
Kendricks will be a key figure in Staley’s 2023 defense. For the unit to take the next step and build off the performance down the stretch of last season, Kendricks is going to have to stay healthy and play well as a run defender and coverage player.
There is limited ready-made depth behind him. Kenneth Murray Jr., who is in line to start next to Kendricks, is still an inconsistent player. Rookie Daiyan Henley, a third-round pick last month, has a lot of really exciting aspects to his game, but he has only been playing linebacker for three years, and there will likely be a learning curve for him in his first NFL season. Battling with Henley on the depth chart will be Amen Ogbongbemiga and Nick Niemann, who combined for 22 defensive snaps last season.
The Chargers are counting on Kendricks to be available and reliable as he enters his age 31 season. What can the Chargers expect from Kendricks, who last earned All-Pro and Pro Bowl honors in 2019?
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At the league meetings earlier this month, Staley touched on a few attributes he thinks Kendricks will bring.
“His instincts, his key diagnose, his ability to communicate, that energy in the middle, that true commander, a tackling machine, sideline to sideline, in the box, the physicality,” Staley said. “He’s one of the best passing game linebackers in the last decade.”
I went back and watched some 2022 tape on Kendricks to find out how exactly some of these more tangible attributes manifest on the field.
I had four primary takeaways from the games I watched.
1. Kendricks has the strength and tenacity to kill blocks in the box, including against pulling and climbing offensive linemen.
2. He has the awareness and football IQ to diagnose plays early and react quickly.
3. He has very real sideline-to-sideline speed and tackling, including in the open field.
4. He displayed some inconsistencies as a coverage player, but it was a little challenging separating the individual play from the discombobulated mess that was the Vikings pass defense last season. (Coordinator Ed Donatell, who coached with Staley for three years in Chicago and Denver and runs the same defense, was fired after the season.) Overall, Kendricks showed enough vision and instincts in coverage to make me believe he can still be a productive player in that phase.
GO DEEPER
Eric Kendricks is a win-now move for the Chargers
Let’s get into the film. And I want to start with the run defending, because that, to me, feels like the driving motivation behind replacing Tranquill with Kendricks.
This play from the Vikings’ Week 14 loss to the Lions is a great example of what Kendricks can bring as a run defender. It was early in the fourth quarter, and Detroit faced a second-and-10 from its own 25-yard line.
The Vikings set up in a penny front package, meaning five defensive linemen and one off-ball linebacker, Kendricks, who is circled.
As Lions quarterback Jared Goff took the shotgun snap, left tackle Taylor Decker and left guard Jonah Jackson executed a double-team on Vikings nose tackle Harrison Phillips, No. 97.
Running back Justin Jackson received the handoff, and Jonah Jackson climbed to the second level to take on Kendricks.
Jonah Jackson has almost 100 pounds on Kendricks. But one thing that showed up repeatedly on tape is that Kendricks has the play strength and technical skill to regularly win these one-on-one matchups with offensive linemen. This was one of those instances.
Kendricks extended his arms and bench-pressed Jonah Jackson away as Justin Jackson made his cut.
Justin Jackson cut back to avoid Phillips.
Kendricks read the cut and dropped Jackson for no gain.
The run game is where I think Kendricks will make the biggest impact.
The other facet of Kendrick’s game that was really impressive is how quickly he can diagnose plays, particularly against the quick passing attack.
We’ll go to another play from that Week 14 game. The Lions faced a third-and-9 from their own 46-yard line. Goff set up in shotgun again with three receivers in a trips formation to his left. The Vikings did not match up with the three receivers, with only two defenders to that side.
The Lions, seeing the numbers advantage, threw a bubble screen to receiver DJ Chark.
But as we can see from the end zone view, Kendricks read this play almost immediately. As Goff corralled a low snap, Kendricks had already turned his head and identified the screen, moving in that direction.
By the time Chark received the pass, Kendricks was outside the hashmarks closing on the play.
And he hit Chark three yards shy of the first down marker.
Kendricks still has that high-level awareness and recognition. And while there were certainly times when he appeared to be a step slow or out of position in coverage, I think it is fair to attribute some of that to the disorganized and dysfunctional back end of the Vikings’ defense. Minnesota led the league in explosive passes allowed at 101, according to TruMedia. It was just ugly, particularly in the deep third of the field.
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This play against the Eagles in Week 2 showed me that Kendricks still has good coverage reps left in him.
The Eagles faced a second-and-2 from their own 27. Jalen Hurts set up in shotgun. Kendricks, circled, was lined up in the middle off the ball.
Pre-snap, Eagles receiver A.J. Brown came in short motion from left to right.
Hurts took the snap and faked a handoff to running back Miles Sanders. Brown kept going on a shallow crossing route.
As Hurts hit the bottom of the drop, you can see Kendricks identify Brown on the crosser and move to his left to gain leverage on the route.
Hurts wanted the crosser, but Kendricks had it smothered.
With nothing open, Hurts escaped right.
As Hurts got to the edge, Brown tried to slip behind Kendricks.
But Kendricks recovered to close down the throwing lane as Hurts released the throw.
The pass fell incomplete.
Overall, I do not think Kendricks will return to his All-Pro form. However, he is still a very good run defender who should give the Chargers stability, physicality, tackling and communication in that phase. He will have to play better in coverage than he did in 2022, but I think he is capable of doing so considering some flashes on film from last season.
(Top photo: Kyle Ross/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images; screenshots via NFL+)
