Luke Kuechly doesn’t have any experience with it but the Carolina Panthers are going to begin working him at strong-side linebacker. That is the plan with veteran Jon Beason expected to return from a torn Achilles tendon suffered in the season opener last year. Kuechly lined up at middle linebacker during rookie minicamp on Friday, according to Joe Person of the Charlotte Observer, but the idea is to have him work at weak side. The hope is Thomas Davis can return from his latest ACL injury to play on the strong side. “We’ll start him on the outside, and then we’ll rotate him into the inside. Jon will be on the inside,†Panthers coach Ron Rivera said. “I’ve talked with Jon about him playing inside and outside, as well. It’s going to be an interesting experiment as we go through this because quite frankly we want to make sure we put the best unit on the football field and the best combination of players.†Source: National Football Post
well, first off, this article is poorly written. at different points, they say the panthers are preferring to play him at every spot. anyway, if what they were trying to say in the article is that the panthers see him as a flexible option that could play sam, will, or mike, then i agree. depending on what they are wanting to do, i think kuechly is going to be great to move around the field. he's not going to be blitzing but i could see him being a solid run stuffer at any position and his coverage skills will be good wherever he's lined up.
well, in the article, rivera is quoted as saying he wants beason to play mike, which is where he is by far most effective. we've seen beason outside and he's just not nearly as effective, so i understand rivera's thinking. kuechly sheds blocks well, tackles well, and plays coverage well so I think they're probably viewing him as someone that has more flexibility that they could move back and forth from sam and will and he could play the other middle when they line up in a 3-4. he gives them a lot of flexibility at LB and they will pretty much have 2 solid mlb's on the field at all times.