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LANCE KENDRICKS
6-3/243
Wisconsin Senior
40: 4.75
PROS:
Has good hands and does a good job going up over the middle to get the ball. Adjusts well to the throw, showing body control, and will lay out for balls. Has decent speed to work the immediate and vertical routes. Finds soft spots in the zone. Shows strength as a runner to break tackles after the catch. Gives effort as a blocker and hustles downfield for his teammates. Shows pop as an inline blocker and is able to get position against the defensive end. Shows ability to lock on and drive linebacker downfield. Can lead the back through the hole, and does a good job on the kick out block and working in space.
CONS:
Doesn't always get a good release of the line, and lacks ideal speed and burst. Struggles to get push as an inline blocker when he goes up against a defensive end. Whiffs on some assignments and blocks on the second level.
OVERVIEW:
Kendricks is a good receiver that probably didn't have quite the production at Wisconsin that he could have had at a school that ran a spread system. But he's coming from what has been a solid tight end pipeline the past few years and has the ability as good as any of them like Owen Daniels. He's a good blocker given his lack of ideal size, but he's more in line with an H-back at the next level. Had his best year as a senior with 43 catches for 663 yards (15.4 avg) and 5 touchdowns, coming off a junior year where he had 29 catches for 356 yards (12.3 avg) and 3 scores.
NFL FORECAST:
Kendricks probably fits best in a Dallas Clark-type role, where he'll play in space a lot as a move tight end. He can also fit very well as an H-back in a two-tight end offense. He is capable as a lead blocker because he did quite a bit of that at Wisconsin, although he's not the type of guy that can be a full-time fullback. But it does give him some versatility. As an inline tight end, he's going to be limited trying to block defensive ends that outweigh him by 20-40 pounds. He blocks as well as any 240-pounder you're going to see, but if teams want him to be an inline guy he needs to add at least another 10 pounds of muscle. In the right scheme like the Colts, he can be a guy that is productive like a Dallas Clark. Clark is probably the best comparison because they have similar measurables coming out of school, and have reliable hands and can create matchup issues. He should be a good pro regardless of the scheme he plays in and be an above average, Top 15 tight end like a Brent Celek or Randy McMichael.
ATL FORECAST:
Kendricks can work in Atlanta, but only if the Falcons commit to using him in space and trying to create mismatches with him at tight end. That's something they did with Gonzalez more in 2009 than they did in 2010. In conjunction with Gonzalez as a rookie, he would make a nice H-back and be able to potentially contribute 20-30 catches right off the bat and help move the chains. Going forward, he can be an OK inline blocker, but that's not something he's going to do well enough to really be a reliable option for the Falcons offense. But he can be a productive starter in Atlanta, but unless the Falcons adapt their offense around him and go more to a spread attack, he's not going to have elite production and be more around 40-50 catches a year.
VALUE:
For a team that runs more of a spread attack like the Colts, then Kendricks has solid second round value. But for most other teams that will use him more as an H-back in a two-tight end attack, he probably is more in line with third or fourth round value because he won't put up the monster production and be more of a complementary guy.
SKILLS
1-poor, 2-weak, 3-above average, 4-very good, 5-elite
Speed: 3.0
Hands: 4.0
Blocking: 3.0
Body Control: 3.5
Range: 3.5
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"Vincere scis, Hannibal, victoria uti nescis" -- Maharbal, 216 B.C.E.
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