Everything You Need To Know About Devon Kennard

A couple weeks ago, I wrote about one of the relative unknowns on the defensive side of the ball for the Giants: linebacker J.T. Thomas.

I wanted to take a look at the player expected to man the side of the unit opposite of Thomas this season: linebacker Devon Kennard.

As I asked in my last article about Thomas, who is Devon Kennard?

The second-year player out of USC is expected to hold down the strong side of the defense for New York–a position the Giants have had a tough time finding consistency at in recent years. He showed some pass rushing chops last year in the season’s final four games, generating all 4.5 of his career sacks. A high-motor speedster off the edge with slightly-above average athletic ability (relative to other NFLers of course, he’s a heckuva lot more athletic than, well, people like me…), he’s quietly expected to give the Giants a pass rushing boost with his speed and unassuming quickness–which has improved since his college days.

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But it’s his solid fundamentals and consistent tackling that made him a 5th round pick in last year’s draft, not so much the motor he plays with.

And it’s that fundamental skillset that he offers the Giants a bit more than the team may have bargained for selecting him 174th overall. He’s shown he can tackle after racking up 43 in just six 2014 starts, and he’s shown the ability to slide into multiple roles along the linebacker unit, including playing the MIKE position. His versatility is not terribly uncommon for the position, but you also don’t see players that can shift and play multiple linebacker spots all too often. It’s something that could really help the Giants throughout the year should injury-prone Jon Beason miss a few games.

So what will the 24-year-old help a Giants defense looking to rebound? Most expect him to generate a few sacks, which he I expect him to as well as he takes on right tackles on the strong side, but I think he’ll give the Giants some much needed containment on the outside. His high-motor and lateral quickness allow him to contain and limit the big plays on the outside that the Giants have been burned on by some of the more talented runners and H-backs in the NFL. It’s a skill that will not only help the Giants, but it will also make him more of a complete linebacker, and he could turn into a guy defenses are forced to pay more attention to as the season goes on.

The sample size is small on Kennard and we’ll only know his long-term potential given more time against better competition (all of his sacks last year came against Tennessee, Jacksonville, and Washington).

But we do know this much so far: Kennard’s shown better than expected as a 5th-round flier last year. And the Giants clearly see something in him to so comfortably insert him into the starting lineup and kick him inside should they need to. There’s still a lot left to see if Kennard, but he’s a guy fans should get to know sooner rather than later, because he could become one of the Giants’ more impactful defenders down the stretch.

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Everything You Need To Know About Devon Kennard

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