Experience will boost rookie Kendricks' impact

Mychal Kendricks was stepping off a train in Center City the other day when he heard someone call his name.

It was a young guy wearing a suit, Kendricks said. I said, Do I know you? He said, I saw you on TV. Youre the new linebacker. It blew me away. Ive only been here a few days.

Welcome to Philadelphia, Mychal. Welcome to the city where the football season never shuts down and the fans never tune out. For a kid from California, it may take a while to adjust.

I heard the Philly fans were into the Eagles, but its even more than I expected, Kendricks said. This guy told me his seat and section number (at Lincoln Financial Field). He told me his season tickets were handed down by his father and grandfather. Their family hasnt missed a game in years.

He pulled out his iPhone and it was in an Eagles case. I was like, Wow, this is crazy. But I mean that in a positive way. I love the enthusiasm. I can only imagine what its like around here when the season starts and were playing games.

Well, Mychal, it depends. The passion cuts both ways. It is not so great when the Eagles get off to the kind of start they had last season when they were stinking out the Linc on a weekly basis. In times like that, players find it is best not to venture out in public a whole lot.

But generally speaking, Philadelphia is a cool place to be a football player, especially if you are a good one and Kendricks has a chance to be a very good one. He was the Eagles second pick in the draft and with his skills he could really improve the linebacker corps.

For now, Kendricks is working at strongside linebacker. Last season, the Eagles started three different players at that positionJamar Chaney, Moise Fokou and Akeem Jordanwithout much success. Thats what happens when you try to get by with free agents and seventh-round draft picks.

This year they invested a high pick in Kendricks, who was one of the top linebackers in the draft. If he measured just one inch taller at the NFL combine, he may have been a first round selection. But he measured 5-11 which looks a lot shorter than 6-0, so he slipped to the second round where the Eagles grabbed him with the 46th overall pick.

Kendricks is fast and physical with the athleticism of a running back. He blew away the other linebackers at the combine when he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.47 seconds, turned in a 39.5 inch vertical jump and did 10 feet, seven inches in the standing broad jump. He was first among the linebackers in all three categories. He also placed in the upper one-third in the bench press, pumping out 24 reps on the 225-pound bar.

Normally, I dont endorse drafting players based on their performance at the combine. In the past, I think the Eagles were guilty of that and made some mistakes. But Kendricks is different. He was a highly productive player at the University of California who jumped off the screen when you watched game tapes, so when he rocked the combine it was just icing on an already impressive cake.

Kendricks is a very good, wrap-up tackler, which is something the Eagles lacked last year. He weighs about 240, so he carries a lot of muscle on his compact frame. He uses his hands well to shed blockers although shedding blockers at the NFL level is more of a challenge than it is in college. It is one of the adjustments Kendricks will have to make.

But one reason I believe Kendricks will have an impact as a rookie is he wont be lost in the playbook. Many first-year players dont contribute because they are overwhelmed by the mental part of the game. In most cases, the schemes are far more complex than what the players were taught in college.

That wont be the case with Kendricks. Cal played every imaginable defense from a 3-4 to a 4-3 to a 3-3-5 and even a 2-4-5 at times. There were more pages to the Cal defensive playbook than most NFL playbooks. Because Kendricks moved around so much, playing outside linebacker (one season) and inside linebacker (three seasons), he learned it all, so he should have no trouble absorbing whatever the Eagles coaches throw his way.

Right now its a matter of adjusting to the speed, Kendricks said. The speed at this level is ridiculous. Everything moves faster. The athletes are faster, the tempo is faster. The calls, the audibles; its all faster. So Im studying the playbook and taking notes in practice. Its becoming more natural every day.

The one question about Kendricks is his size. At 5-11, he is rather short for the SAM position where he will be asked to cover tight ends like Atlantas Tony Gonzalez and Jason Witten of Dallas, both of whom stand around 6-6.

Ill do whatever the coaches ask me to do, Kendricks said. I know these tight ends are crazy athletes, they look like NBA players, but I can run and I can cover. Im confident I can do the job.

One way the coaches could help Kendricks would be to adjust their approach. The Eagles have not blitzed their linebackers much in recent years. Last season, the linebackers had just two of the teams 50 sacks. But Kendricks uses his speed so effectivelyhe had 15 sacks and 41 tackles behind the line at Calthat the Eagles might consider sending him after the quarterback instead of dropping into coverage.

I hope we do it, Kendricks said, referring to the blitz. We have the athletes to do it. Well see. Its still early.

For now, Kendricks is busy learning about his new team and his new home. Last week, he got lost trying to find the Philadelphia waterfront and wound up on the Ben Franklin Parkway.

I saw a crowd of people taking pictures, Kendricks said. I looked closer and saw it was the Rocky statue. Right next to it were the steps Rocky climbed in the movie. If I wasnt in so much traffic, I wouldve pulled over and checked it out.

Kendricks smiled.

Next time, he said.
E-mail Ray Didinger at viewfromthehall@comcast.net