Eric Kendricks was always considered a bit undersized, even at the collegiate level.
Despite the limitations of his physical dimensions though, he was still widely expected to end up a late first-round or early second-round pick in the 2015 NFL Draft.
Kendricks eventually landed with the Minnesota Vikings in the middle of the second after being passed over by several inside linebacker-needy teams and while he may still struggle with certain aspects of the professional transition, most directly related to his stature, he seems to be in a good spot to contribute right away for the Vikes.
"He can come in and start next to Chad Greenway and former Bruins teammate Anthony Barr," writes Charlie Campbell of WalterFootball.com. "Minnesota had a need at inside linebacker and Kendricks is a superb fit for Mike Zimmer's linebacker-friendly defense. If Kendricks struggles as a Mike (middle) linebacker, he could move to the Will (weakside) linebacker, and that would help to compensate his ability to take on big interior blockers. Thus, Kendricks could be the Vikings' long-term starter to replace Greenway when the team moves on from the aging veteran."
While Benardrick McKinney and Stephone Anthony went ahead of him, Kendricks actually seems like the best bet to make significant impact for his new NFL team from Day One.
Kendricks is set to start out his NFL and Vikings career on the inside of George Edward's defense and it's not just because of the lack of an established veteran in front of him - Kendricks finished his UCLA career as the school's all-time leader in tackles with 480 takedowns. He's also incredibly instinctual and hard-nosed, willing to do the dirty work and battle with bigger offensive lineman in order to get to the ball - classic "Mike" traits.
If Kendricks can show the same type of tough, gritty leadership he displayed in college, he very well could stick in the middle for Mike Zimmer and Co.
The weakside linebacker in a 4-3 though, is widely viewed as the biggest playmaker on the unit - he has less trash to fight through in front of him thanks to there being one less body along the offensive front and his assignment usually allows for more freedom and is predicated mostly on see ball-get ball.
Kendricks' size is questionable, but his agility numbers, which you can see in the spider graph below, are phenomenal.
Kendricks' numbers compare favorably to Buccaneers star weakside linebacker Lavonte David - a player who has managed to turn himself into one of the best "Will" linebackers in the league.
David finished last season for the Bucs with 146 tackles, one sack, four forced fumbles and four passes defensed. He's now collected over 139 tackles in each of his three professional seasons.
Eric's older brother Mychal, an inside linebacker for the Eagles in Billy Davis' two-gap 3-4, has proven himself a serious playmaker over the last two seasons - in 2013 he gathered 106 tackles, four sacks, two forced fumbles and three interceptions in 15 games. While Eric's downhill-style isn't the same as Mychal's, they do share similar characteristics to their game in terms of size and potential for impact.
With former Bruins teammate Anthony Barr on the strong side and Greenway firmly entrenched on the outside, Kendricks seems destined for the "Mike" role early, where he very well may stick if he can display the same type of leadership he utilized to great effect at UCLA, but if he can show a knack for playmaking along the same lines as David, his long-term NFL and Vikings future could be on the outside.
