I’m not sure I can tell if he was miscast in a 3-4 vs nobody
having an instinctual understanding of what they were supposed to do because
Donatelle wasn’t great as a DC at implementing his defense. I think Kendricks is a guy who depends so
much on reading things quickly and being the fastest reactor on the field, and
I think if he’s not able to read things quickly his more average level of speed
isn’t going to make up for it. I’m
pretty skeptical that you could have put a generic fast LB into his spot last
year and there’d be any positive difference.
Regardless, he was a great contributor here and the locker
room will miss his presence. That said,
we’re going to face no shortage of tough decisions in the next couple years,
and the more we have to get our young offensive studs long deals the more we’re
going to feel cramped in other areas.