South Carolina pass rusher Kyle Kennard has tremendous upside

The South Carolina edge rusher has immense potential in the NFL.

The Kansas City Chiefs are slotted to have the 31st pick of the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft. Toward this point in the draft, many of the surefire prospects will be off the board, but due to the depth of this year’s defensive line class, there could still be talented players available.

One of these players is South Carolina edge rusher Kyle Kennard. A player who looks the part, Kennard is a tremendous athlete, and his career production shows he is worthy of a first-round selection.

He was one of the most productive pass rushers in the SEC last season and could add another layer to the Chiefs’ pass rush.

Player profile

Kennard recorded 11.5 sacks last season for the Gamecocks, giving him over 20 total for his college career. He was also able to force three fumbles and was a Consensus All-American.

When looking at his athletic profile, he has good height and arm length for the position, and although his weight of 254 lbs. is slightly undersized, he will likely specialize along the edges in the NFL.

The only testing that Kennard did was for his 40-yard dash, but his overall time was top-notch at 4.73 seconds, and, more importantly, his 10-yard split of 1.63 seconds showed his ability to fire out of a position quickly.

This was the key for Kennard, and the first step of quickness and burst is the cornerstone to his game.

First step

Kennard has one of the best first steps of any player in this draft class, and it is the base for his game. He is lightning quick out of the gates, and this is where he lets his instincts for the game take over.

In football, especially at the college level, plenty of plays involve reads where the end man on the line of scrimmage is left unblocked. In these plays, the quarterback typically has enough time to give the ball or make a read, and the backside defensive end is not a factor.

This kind of play highlights the caliber of the athlete and Kennard’s instinctual nature. To get off the line of scrimmage that fast, diagnose the play, and then make the play takes a special kind of player.

Flexibility

The first step, combined with tremendous flexibility, made Kennard a menace to deal with on the field.

Kennard can fly around the arc, but complementing his speed is the flexibility needed to get around tackles and find his way to the quarterback.

On the snap, he takes off upfield, and once he blows by the tackle, he can dip and bend to get around the arc. He meets the quarterback just as he is going into his throwing motion and strips the ball free to force a fumble.

Pass rush arsenal

Kennard uses his athleticism to set up offensive tackles, and against some of the best talent he saw in college, he did a good job mixing his pass rush plans and keeping tackles guessing.

Against one of the top tackle prospects in this year’s draft class, Will Campbell of LSU, Kennard put on a clinic and finished the game with a sack and a half and multiple pressures.

Campbell seemed very aware of Kennard’s ability to burn around the edge and started the game setting quickly to the outside to prevent the speed rushes, but this set Kennard up for success later in the game.

As Campbell starts his vertical set, Kennard smoothly transitions his rush to the inside and blows through the B-gap, coming up just short of a sack.

This wouldn’t be the only time Kennard would create pressure against Campbell; later in the game, he returned to it.

Lined up wide pre-snap, Kennard waits until Campbell has overset, then, like a blur, he dashes through the B-gap and hits the quarterback just as he delivers the football.

The idea behind Kennard’s pass rush plan isn’t complicated, but it is highly effective, and one that is nearly impossible for tackles to key in on or cheat against. Wait for the inside rush, and Kennard will go outside. Over-set to stop the speed, and he will sprint inside.

He will have work to do to improve his hand-to-hand pass rush moves, but he uses the same quickness on his outside and inside rushes to make sure that tackles cannot square him up.

Kennard starts his rush wide, but the left tackle is able to match him. However, Kennard keeps working his hands and eventually catches the tackle off balance and leaning. With the lean, Kennard swats away the tackle’s hands and works his way inside for the sack.

The bottom line

There are factors to Kennard’s game that might cause the Chiefs to hesitate to draft him, and the same factors are likely keeping him from being a bona fide day-one talent.

He is a good penetrator in the run game but sometimes has trouble holding up against one-on-one blocks or setting the edge against traditional outside looks. Much of this has to do with his play strength at the point of attack in the run game, and this is an area he will need to work on.

These factors could have him off the Chiefs’ board, but the upside to having a player like Kennard is high.

While the Chiefs have a solid group of defensive ends, Kennard would bring speed and bend that none of the others have, and this could be an excellent change-up on pass rush downs.

Kennard could become a chess piece for Spagnuolo early on, while working with Joe Cullen to become an everyday player. For a talent like Kennard, the risk would be worth the reward.