All Twenty-Tuesday: LB Kendell Beckwith

A big reason why linebacker Kwon Alexander celebrates defensive plays, even outside of his own, is because he knows it takes a full team effort to cover and stop an NFL offense.

As the NFL landscape has changed, so have the personnel packages that both offenses and defenses run. With offense being the ones that dictate how things are lined up,  it’s natural to believe that the days of seven or eight huge players on a defensive front can simply no longer keep up. Spread and no-huddle offense have forced defenses to get faster in the core positions and even to substitute some players on certain downs – this is why you’ll hear the terms “first- and second-down player” or “three-down player.”

Linebacker and cornerback have seen the most change during this time because these are the position that are substituted for one another depending on the call. When the defense thinks the offense is running the ball with more than one tight end or a full back on the field, they’ll stay in what’s called “base” which keeps three linebackers on the field, as many long-time NFL fans are used to. But, if the offense comes out with four or five wide receivers, the defense will substitute one or more of those three linebackers into a “nickel” or “dime” package with cornerbacks to get more speed on the field.

This means that depth on a defense is more important now than ever. Even if teams have one style they prefer more than the other, every team in the NFL still has to be able to run base and nickel formations at any given time. For the Buccaneers, most of what they do is out of the nickel formation (run 60-65 percent of the time). They have two linebackers with a lot of athleticism in Alexander and Lavonte David who can stay on the field at all times, even on passing down. But, today we’re going to talk about when they do play in that base formation, and when the third linebacker (called the SAM) comes into play.

SAM linebackers in today’s NFL are the embodiment of the phrase, “where’s the beef?” While the weakside and middle linebacker still have to have some coverage responsibilities in base formation (even on run play looks), the SAM linebacker has a different priority. Instead of lining up at the second level like the other two, the SAM linebacker is almost always much closer to the line of scrimmage due to their primary responsibility on helping in the trenches and with run support.

Buccaneers SAM linebacker, Daryl Smith, lined up on the left side close to the line of scrimmage.

Because of the nature of where they play, SAM linebackers often have to have more size. They’ll either be taking on offensive linemen or tight ends on run plays, and shouldn’t be asked to cover anything more than zone coverage in the flats or a short curl route to their side of the field. Attributes that are important for SAM linebackers are strength, ability to get off blocks, tackling, some pass rush moves and to just not be a total liability in coverage.

Last year veteran linebacker Daryl Smith filled that role for the Buccaneers. But, with Smith gone, that “starting” spot is up for grabs. Right now second-year pro Devante Bond is slated to be the starter. After missing his rookie season due to a hamstring injury, he’s more adjusted to the NFL game due to his preparation and studying last year and thinks he can step in. However, there is a challenger to Bond – or, at least, there will be at some point. That challenger is rookie linebacker out of LSU, Kendell Beckwith.

The Buccaneers selected Beckwith with their second of two third-round picks by trading up for him in the 2017 NFL Draft. Beckwith saw playing time in each of his four years at LSU, but missed most of last season due to a torn ACL, an injury that is still keeping him off the field.

As we’ve done with most of the rookie class so far this year, let’s take a look at Beckwith’s tape and see what kind of player the Buccaneers drafted (when healthy), and if he has a shot to start at that SAM linebacker position once he’s healed up.

In the Middle

For most of him time at LSU, Beckwith played the middle linebacker role (though, even in his senior season, it was Duke Riley who was calling the defensive plays). Because of the nature of the position, Beckwith was able to rack up a ton of stats. In 2015, as a full-time starter in the middle, he had 84 total tackles, 10 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks. That was in 12 games. In 10 games the following year, Beckwith had already eclipsed his total tackles from the year before with 91 and added six tackles for loss with one sack before tearing his ACL in November.

I’m not going to show you a bunch of clips of Beckwith making common tackles. He’s a linebacker, he does that like 60-70 times a season. Instead I’m going to show the moments that stand out for me, both good and bad, that will impact his transition to the next level, especially relative to the SAM linebacker position.

The play above is from the middle linebacker spot. In it, Beckwith showed what he can do when sifting through chaos to hit a gap and make a play. That’s the good from Beckwith, probably the best I saw from him, honestly. He has a tendency to lower his head and miss some tackles he shouldn’t, but in terms of seeing open space and being able to hit it, Beckwith can do this well. This is a key trait for being a run stopper.

If Beckwith is going to be getting any kind of early playing time, it’s likely going to be in scenarios like the one above.

Beckwith is going to most likely be a part of some sort of short yardage or goal line package. In the play above, Beckwith again showed that he has the awareness to see a running lane before it opens up, and stop a play in its tracks at the line of scrimmage. Though he probably won’t be getting much playing time at all in the middle as long as Alexander is healthy (since he never wants to come out), Beckwith will be the back up middle linebacker. If he is called upon due to an injury, he has run stopping ability from that spot – a spot that’s probably his best, as we’ll learn.

That’s the good. The rest? Well…

Strong Side

When you pop on Beckwith’s tape, even in the pre-snap, his size stands out. Beckwith said he played at 6-foot-2, 246 pounds during his time at LSU, both of which are above the 60 percentile for linebackers in the NFL. That’s good. The problem is, he doesn’t play like that build when he’s not hitting.

When Beckwith hits you, he hits hard, and when he can run in a straight line and get a full head of steam, he can do some damage. But if he’s not doing either of those things, he gets bullied way more than a linebacker should. The play above is the first form of evidence to that. In it, Beckwith just gets turned around like a wheel. At no point does he show the strength or urgency to get off his block and unfortunately that’s something I saw far too much of.

The Alabama tape from 2015 was not kind to Beckwith, and the play above was one of his low lights. In it, Beckwith was first edge-blocked at the second level as he was re-directed completely, then he was “finished” as the offensive lineman basically walked him completely out of the play.

That can’t happen. Like, at all. Especially for a linebacker who is going to be taking on big players, including offensive linemen, at the line of scrimmage. If Beckwith is getting moved that easily, he’s a complete liability in the run game. It doesn’t matter how hard he could hit in college. If he could get off blocks at that level, he’s going to get swallowed up in the NFL without added strength or functional coaching.

Now let’s take a look at Beckwith from a blitzing standpoint.

The same bad traits that haunted Beckwith at the middle linebacker spot also haunt him when trying to collapse the pocket.

Beckwith only has one move as a pass rusher, and it’s not even a move; it’s just him trying to get as much momentum as he can in order to bull rush his offensive lineman. When that fails, as shown above, Beckwith is no help to the rush. Bucs linebacker Bond brings much more of a speed attribute to the SAM linebacker position. He has a few pass rush moves to collapse the pocket, and was hoping to find his niche of advantage there. Well, he has it, because Beckwith doesn’t.

The play above gives us a pretty good look of how Beckwith will fair when lined up close to the line of scrimmage. Unfortunately the answer is “not well,” or, at least, it was for him in college. For a man of Beckwith’s size and narrative, I thought I would see a much stronger player than what I did. The fact of the tape is he really struggled to get off blocks both at the line of scrimmage and in the second level on anything that wasn’t a short yardage inside run play. Beckwith did play some coverage assignment, and didn’t “blow” any by my eye, but that’s also because his pursuit angles were so wide he was able to make tackles but give up quite a bit of yardage in the process.

Overall, I’ve been pretty optimistic about the Buccaneers draft class. I raved about the O.J. Howard and Chris Godwin selections, saw some good things from Jeremy McNichols, and even understood why the team took the risk on Justin Evans.

But, with the Beckwith picked, I can’t be as optimistic due to where he’s projected to play. It feels like this pick was selected based more on the eye test and the narratives. The Buccaneers surely believe they can get a strong, bullying linebacker from Beckwith, but that player just isn’t in his tape. To me, he’s a backup or fringe starter at middle linebacker for a 3-4 team. I’m not so hopefully he can be a SAM linebacker for a 4-3 team.

Don’t rule out Bond as Tampa Bay’s starting SAM linebacker this year – and perhaps longer.