Guard, Illinois

Update: Kendrick Green Steelers. Kendrick Green is headed to Pittsburgh as the Steelers read this article and took him in the 3rd round of the 2021 NFL Draft.

A man of many talents Kendrick Green, came to Illinois as defensive tackle. A defensive tackle that registered 111 tackles and 15 sacks his senior season of high school. I checked multiple sites, including fightingillini.com, to confirm that tackle number by the way. 247sports had him rated as a 3 star recruit and a top 500 player in the nation. However, after a red shirt freshman year at Illinois, Green converted to offensive line and started all 12 games at guard where he helped the Fighting Illini claim most improved running game in the nation during the 2018 season. I absolutely loved watching the film on Green. He was literally my favorite lineman to watch this year. He has that old school toughness and he is always looking for someone to hit. In the game against Northwestern, he regularly shows up at the end of the play to hit just one more guy. On one play he comes diving into the screen to blast an unsuspecting linebacker and it just makes me smile. He is the type of guy that makes linebackers play with their head on a swivel, or they won’t be playing with a head at all.

Strengths

Not to be repetitive but Green plays football the old school way and I love that in a lineman. He is a nasty finisher, and looks like he wants defenders to remember him when he searches for extra people to block. He is very active as a blocker, always looking for his assignment. Green is still in his infancy as a lineman, having only played 3 seasons, one shortened due to Covid, as an offensive player. I believe he will continue to improve as he did not only season to season, but from game to game. Each week I found less and less holes in his game. That shows me he is smart and willing to learn. Or as we like to call it, very “coachable.” PFF rated him as the 6th best guard in 2020 overall, and gave him a zone rating of 93.7. In the running game, he uses his body well on cut blocks and he turns defenders with his hips to create gaping running lanes for running backs. He is pretty fast for such a big man (6’4″ 315lbs) running a 4.85 40 time. That quickness makes me think he can play in most all blocking schemes. He played both guard and center as well, so he has positional versatility which we all know NFL teams love.

Weaknesses

Green’s aggressiveness is also one of his biggest let downs. Sometimes he plays too aggressive and whiffs due to lack of patience on the second level. As a pass blocker, he has some tape where he gets pushed back further than I would like before he recovers and holds his ground. He needs to add some strength. During his Pro Day he recorded 25 reps on the bench press. He stands a bit too tall at times and plays too stiff. Then his next play he looks textbook. He needs to be more consistent. Watching the film, I see him appear to become fatigued and it shows in his blocking. This is a big red flag for me, but I hope that an NFL conditioning coach can help get out ahead of that. Plus, I doubt he will have to run block 40 plus plays a game in the NFL. Even though PFF has him graded highly and he has shown on film that he has all the tools. Sites like CBS have him rated as low as 191st overall on their big board. Well good thing we aren’t CBS. Green may need another year to fully grasp the position. All his counterparts in the draft have been playing it since high school or earlier. If Green continues to improve at the rate he has the ceiling may be a vaulted one for sure.

Projection

Green can play in either a zone or a power scheme but I prefer him in a zone. Other sites are all over the board on him, but I really like him. I would be okay taking him in the third round, but I think some teams won’t value him as much as others. If I drafted him I’d want to see how good he could really be at center. Green will probably go in the fourth round, but once again id be willing to take him in the 3rd.