After Eric Kendricks’ All-Pro 2019 season, plenty of outlets have given him some much-needed recognition in the form of offseason accolades.
The latest is Pro Football Focus. The outlet ranked Kendricks the No. 8 linebacker in the NFL. Here’s what it said about Kendricks:
“Kendricks is coming off the best season in his five-year NFL career. While his overall grade had hovered in the 60s from 2016 to 2018, it came in at 90.1 in 2019 (second at the position). The most noteworthy part of his game this past season was just how many plays he made on the football. Kendricks was credited with 14 forced incompletions, which led all linebackers and came in at fifth among all defenders. With some of the struggles at cornerback for Minnesota, play like that in coverage from Kendricks and the Vikings’ safety duo of Harrison Smith and Anthony Harris maintained their spot as a top-10 pass defense in 2019. That may have to be the case again with three new (young) starters at cornerback.”
Kendricks had 12 pass deflections and 110 combined tackles in 2019. Pro Football Focus also named him the Vikings’ most-improved player. He was a Pro Bowl selection. He also ranked 83rd in the NFL Top 100 Players list.