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Mar 19, 2019
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The MMQB assembles NFL ‘All-Small Team,’ includes 1 Viking


Is it a little silly? Yes.


But this not-quite-5-foot writer couldn’t resist highlighting The MMQB’s recent project, “The NFL’s All-Small Team,” which features one Viking.


Andy Benoit looked across the league and constructed a roster of players “smaller than the average height and weight at their position” who are consistently put up sizeable numbers.


Vikings fans will see a familiar name in the linebacker group: Eric Kendricks, who is listed at 6-feet, 232 pounds. The 27-year-old may be a little shorter than most NFL linebackers, but he’s led the team in tackles every year since Minnesota drafted him in 2015. Kendricks was joined by Atlanta’s Deion Jones (6-1, 227), San Francisco’s Kwon Alexander (6-1, 227) and Carolina’s Shaq Thompson (6-3, 230). Benoit wrote:


Small linebackers must be kept clean from blockers, which is difficult when the defensive tackles are also small. Most likely, on early downs, this team will gamble and blitz often, hoping to make offenses play on OUR schedule and at OUR speed. Blitzing requires man coverage. And yes, the ’backers are often part of the blitzes, but having some who can also cover makes us that much more diverse. Jones and Thompson for sure can cover. The Falcons put a lot of burden on Jones to handle running backs on his own in man-to-man.


As for Thompson … the Panthers have been known to play base 4-3 personnel against three-receiver sets, treating Thompson essentially as a slot corner. That’s extremely unusual, and it should be noted Thompson’s slot snaps come mostly in zone coverage. We’d want him to match to tight ends in man. Alexander and Kendricks are both middle linebackers, which works well because Jones plays the weak side and Thompson can play the strong side.
 
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