Georgia defensive back Derion Kendrick won a pair of national titles during his college football career. Now, he is poised to move up to the next level.
Kendrick faced elite competition throughout his college career. He won some battles and lost others. He projects as a Day 2 NFL draft selection.
NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein compares Derion Kendrick to Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Darius Phillips. Who is Darius Phillips?
Phillips has played four seasons in the NFL with the Bengals. He was a fifth-round selection in the 2018 NFL draft. He played college football at Western Michigan.
It would be surprising to see Kendrick fall beyond the third or fourth round of the 2022 NFL draft. Kendrick was seldom beat during his final season in college. The main concern would be off-the-field issues, which were the reason he transferred from Clemson. To Kendrick’s credit, he stayed out of trouble during his time at the University of Georgia.
Phillips has played in 47 career NFL games, including 10 starts. He has forced eight turnovers and has 73 career tackles.
Kendrick has the potential to have a more successful career than Phillips. Kendrick came up huge in the College Football Playoff against Michigan. Kendrick had seven interceptions in his final three seasons of college football and is almost always contesting a catch.
Here’s how Lance Zierlein describes Kendrick’s fit at the NFL level:
Cornerback with four years of playoff experience and two national titles under his belt. Kendrick has played against some of the best wideouts in the game but has a history of struggling in some of those matchups. He lacks speed and strength to stay outside but his quickness and route recognition should help him move inside as a nickel. He’s athletic and capable underneath with excellent ball skills but can be exploited by long speed and needs safety help in those matchups. He’s unreliable as a tackler, but concerns over character and maturity appear to be a bigger issue for him. Talent and those concerns need to be weighed, but Kendrick has CB3/CB4 potential in the right scheme.
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