[Direckshun]

ILB Eric Kendricks, UCLA -- I'm a little less high on Kendricks than most people, and I think he could actually be in for a slide when the Draft rolls around. Kendricks (6'0", 230 lbs) is a very physical linebacker with good who relishes contact and plays with ton of energy, but there's not really a part of his game that doesn't need a lot of work. He doesn't seem to be exceptionally athletic, and struggles mightily in coverage against the better teams he plays. His coverage just isn't going to work in the NFL as it stands right now, and he's going to end up a two-down SILB for at least a year or two, assuming he ever progresses enough to play obvious passing downs (questionable). The area of his game you'd expect him to shine would be in run defense, and even there he needs to be better at picking the right gap, as he can get washed out with the trash sometimes. He also needs to be nailing tackles more often, and while he's still a very good tackler, you better be an Eric Berry-grade tackler to be a 1st round quality player, which too many people are suggesting he is. His aggressiveness can be exploited as well, as play actions and misdirections exposed him more than a few times. His role looks to be a two-down SILB in a 3-4, as I don't know how well he'd handle the space of being a MLB in a 4-3 defense. That said, I do think he's worth a 3rd-4th rounder at that position, depending on how much you value the position on your team. Despite paying decent money to Joe Mays, the Chiefs don't particularly value the position, only keeping it on the field about 40% of the time, so I don't see why such a high investment, in Kendricks or anybody else, would be necessary.