I get that Kennard is a great homeboy storyline, his dad and him being a locker room leader. I even like him as a versatile LB who can blitz and cover. But let's not go too far. Idk if he is the right fit opposite CJ. We don't really run a disguise scheme a la Belichick/Patricia where ILB, OLB and DE are almost interchangable. Kennard had two 7 sack seasons and really nothing before. Most of his sacks came as a designated blitzer rather than beating the OT one vs one. He isn't very stout anchoring the edge against the run. I could see him being moved next to Hicks on some downs. And as already mentioned, I highly doubt he can apply consistent pressure opposite CJ, even when going against average RTs.
Good chess piece if VJ knows to use him, but I doubt he the 2nd edge threat we need.