Re: All passes thrown Lance Kendricks' way last year (29 min
Biggame1190 and I talked about Kendricks this offseason and acknowledged how much talent this kid has. He is extremely gifted and we just hoped he could shake the issue of drops that so plagued him his rookie year and donned him the nickname "Kendrops."
Many of the drops his rookie year seemed to be due to lack of concentration and poor technique (improper hand placement). For the most part I thought he eliminated enough of the drops for it not to be considered an "issue" by me. On the contrary he made some outstanding catches in traffic and showed the ability to outrun LBs & out-muscle DBs. The majority or at least half of the balls he did not catch were due to contact/well contesting by the defenders.
He is one of the premier, yes I said it, blocking tight ends in the game after only 2 years. He has a rock for an upper body and uses good hand placement and has strong legs to drive defenders out of the play opening big holes in the run game. This was evidenced by 2 wham plays on the Rams 2nd scoring drive @ SF where Kendricks pancaked the 300+ pound NT Sopoaga.
Not only that but his athleticism is underrated. People want to talk about how "slow" he was on the 80 yard TD. Hey, I'll be happy any time a player scores on an 80 yard play no matter how they do it; especially a TE! The speedy Vernon Davis has a long of 73 in his career btw. He beat Patrick Willis, considered one of the best cover LBs in the game, on several occasions. Outrunning him on the 2 pt conversion and running such a good double move that Willis was forced to hold.
Ultimately I still think they're room for growth for Kendricks. May be one of our most valuable players on O with his dual threat capabilities. And although I'd be fine with getting a Cook or Keller, Kendricks growth makes me comfortable if we decide that is not a priority in FA.