Scouting The Draft: Sergio Kindle, OLB, Texas

I wasn't planning on looking at Kindle becaue personally I thought he would be long gone by the time we selected, but it seems that some people have him falling down their boards, so at the request of a member, I started looking at him.

Sergio has moved from linebacker to DE, and on the surface he seems capable of playing as a 4-3 DE, or as a 3-4 OLB. He has a lot of good characteristics which make him a fit for both. During his first two years with the Longhorns he really wasn't a factor on that defence. 0.5 sacks over his first two years, but then during his Junior year he just exploded onto the scene, and ever since then his stock has continued to rise.

A couple of off the field issues have plagued him, served a three game suspension in 2007 for a drunk driving charge, and drove his car into an apartment building because he was texting while driving in 2009. The crash caused nearly $9,000 worth of damage. The car partly crashed into a students bedroom, fortunately she wasn't home at the time and nobody else was injured. According to reports after the crash, the passengers of the car and Kindle himself, pushed the car out of the building to the street and then went home. His lawyer stated he did this because he was injured and 'he needed to go home and go to bed". He talked to the building management and filed an accident report the next morning.,

Career Stats

2006- 11 GP, 21 TKL, 3 TFL, 0 Sacks

2007- 8 GP, 32 TKL, 4.0 TFL, 0.5 sacks, 1 PBU

2008- 13 GP, 45 TKL, 12.5 TFL, 10.0 Sacks, 2 PBU

2009- 14 GP, 70 TKL, 22 TFL, 5.5 Sacks, 4 PBU

Career Awards & Achievement

2008 All American

2008 All Big 12 First Team

2009 All American Recognition

2009 All Conference Second Team

More after the Jump:

What does Sergio Kindle do well?

Sergio has good length, which allows him to knock some balls down, good speed off the edge, and in coverage. Can run with tight ends, and close out the screens. He has a lot of athleticism, and uses this in the open field to wrap up tacklers. Not an easy player to duke, and will bring you down once he has a hold of you. Has good lateral movement, and his closing speed is second to none. Explosive off the snap and gets into the backfield quickly, doesn't have an advanced repertoire of moves, but uses the bull rush well to close the pocket quickly. Shows the same ability from the 2 or 3 point stance. He has the prototypical size/speed/length combination that teams will look for, especially for the OLB spots. Can hold his own in the running game and holds the point against bigger lineman quite well. Shows a great deal of strength. Has good acceleration once out of the initial burst. 8 tackles and 2 sacks in the Championship game.

What does Sergio Kindle need to improve on?

One thing that I did notice and that was a red flag straight away was his inability to get off blocks sometimes, can get tied up and doesn't always use his hands well to disengage. Recognition and awareness is not always there, needs to keep his eyes in the backfield, can be fooled on misdirection and sometimes over pursues the ball by being too aggressive. Can bite on pump fakes and play action. Didn't see much of him in coverage playing DE the last couple of years. Obviously he needs to carry himself better, apartment building incident was last summer,  and you always have to take notice of things like that.

Final Word

Sergio is a great talent, and I would love to have him with us. He has the prototypical attributes but he also has the game to go with them. Great length, like his quickness and burst to the ball, has a canny ability to get into the backfield. I like how his speed shuts off the outside and forces things into the middle, forcing runners towards Harris and Scott is never a bad thing. I like his pass rushing skills, perhaps could develop some more moves, and would need work on using his hands, but he would be a great pick up if he managed to fall to the Jets. I don't see him doing that, and I'm not sure I would move up for him, but a good player.

Video Highlights

My Top 5 (In no particular order right now)

Jordan Shipely

Sergio Kindle

Perrish Cox

Jared Odrick

Brandon Graham

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