Vikings LBs Eric Kendricks and Jordan Hicks are seeing the same things
EAGAN — Eric Kendricks has played in exactly 100 games over his seven years in the NFL. Anthony Barr was alongside him for 86 of those. During that time, the two UCLA products formed a remarkable bond. They had the football version of friends who have been close for so long that they finish each other’s sentences. Adding to their chemistry was the fact that they had the same coach and same system each year, which eventually made training camp a formality.
This year Kendricks is being asked to adjust to a different linebacking partner and adapt to a new system for the first time in his career.
The Vikings could have gone with a player who has been on the roster in recent years to keep continuity — after all, they have drafted three linebackers within the first four rounds since 2020 and Blake Lynch played 218 snaps last year. Instead they elected to sign veteran Jordan Hicks rather than leaving Kendricks with an inexperienced player next to him.
“We were in the middle of a meeting when we found out [about Hicks signing],” GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah said when Hicks was introduced. “We literally stopped the meeting and KO turned to me and said, ‘I didn’t like playing against that guy.’ Sometimes it’s really not more difficult than that. He’s an incredible player, great in space.”
Nothing will replicate the Barr-Kendricks relationship. In fact, there might not be anything like it in the entire league where any combo of players is together for that long outside of maybe receivers and QBs. But Kendricks has to make new friends in this refreshed environment.
“We definitely see things the same way,” Kendricks said following Monday’s practice. “We both were playing 4-3 for a while so… we see the gap exchanges the same ways. Our progression reads are very like-minded. Things that make sense to us, they make sense to both of us. Things that don’t make sense usually we can agree on that as well.”
Hicks and Kendricks came into the league the same year and the 2015 third-round pick of the Eagles has played a ton of football since then. Per PFF, 5,600 snaps worth. He’s been one of the healthiest players in the NFL with over 1,000 snaps in each of the last three seasons and he’s been in multiple defensive schemes after starting with Philly and signing with Arizona in 2019.
There have been years where he blitzed often and years where he covered more. There have been years where he played on great defenses and other years where it was a struggle. At a position where offenses are constantly trying to create coverage conflicts and confusion for the linebackers, having seen it all is worth its weight.
“You don’t often get to play next to somebody who has the experience, the talent and the ability to see things the same way,” Hicks said. “To have all three for both of us is a lot of fun…we’re trying to get a feel for each other and how we play, how our instincts play a role in what we see and as the season comes it’ll be good.”
Hicks said that Kevin O’Connell’s offense in particular acts as great preparation for what’s to come. With its roots in Sean McVay’s L.A. Rams system, there’s a great deal of motion and lots of tricky formations.
“Being put in tough positions that our offense puts us in… we’re lucky to be able to go against this offense,” Hicks said.
In previous years, there were times during training camp in which the defense was so familiar with Mike Zimmer’s system and the personnel that the offense would get frustrated. Now Kendricks and Hicks are figuring out how to learn and grow within the system through the times they have success and failure.
“Maybe we get beat on something but we both know at the same time why we got beat and then we get another chance and we get a different look at it and it’s like OK let’s talk about that now,” Kendricks said. “Each day we’re out here we’re getting beat but we’re also making plays and they are all things to talk about regardless and that communication off the field as well as adjustments on the field is very important. We both have the same lingo, we are both eight years in the league so we know what’s going on.”
The Vikings participated in their first day of padded practices on Monday. Those will be particularly big for the Kendricks-Hicks relationship. With veterans unlikely to see much time (if any) in preseason games, the next few weeks of work with the pads on will be where the new Vikings linebacker bond is formed.
“We can’t effectively do our job if pads aren’t on and it’s not real football,” Hicks said.
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