With the ninth overall selection in the 2012 NFL draft, the Carolina Panthers took Luke Kuechly, linebacker out of Boston College. Ironically, the Chicago Bear great was the ninth overall selection in the 2000 draft out of New Mexico. Even before they were drafted with the same pick, twelve years apart, scouts and television experts were remarking about how similar there playing styles were. Being a huge fan of the Panthers as well as a fan of the ACC in college football, I have seen for myself the similarities from a fans viewpoint in the stands.
Carolina took Kuechly, not because they needed a middle linebacker already having John Beason in the middle of the defense as he returns this year from an Achilles injury, but because Kuechly was the best player available. Although many fans don’t like selecting the best player available and would have rather selected a defensive tackle such as Fletcher Cox who went later to the Eagles, I feel that drafting for need is a mistake in early rounds. If a player is that great, why pass on him? I don’t think that you can.
The best player available tactic that Carolina Panthers General Manager Marty Hurney uses in earlier rounds of NFL drafts has served him well in the past when choosing linebackers. He choose Dan Morgan in 2001 with the 11 th overall pick and John Beason in 2007 with the 25 overall selection. Having such a great track record for picking great linebackers, Hurney had no other choice in my mind than to select Kuechly.
The Panthers surely got a winner in Kuechly but is he the next Brian Urlacher? I see a lot of similarities in the two. For one, their measurable are scary close. Kuechly at 6 foot 3 inches tall while Urlacher is also 6 foot 3 inches tall. Speed wise they are nearly identical as well with Kuechly having been clocked at 4.53 in the 40 yard dash and Urlacher at 4.52. But it is not just their measurable that are so similar, there stats in college, against similar opponents, are almost identical.
While I am no NFL scout, I trust the people who get paid for a living to do such work. Having not only ESPN’s Mel Kiper but also the Sporting News’ Russ Lande give such detailed analysis on the similarities between Urlacher and Kuechly is enough for me to believe. After all, many naysayer’s didn’t believe that Urlacher should have been compared so favorably to linebacker legend Dick Butkus when he was drafted. They were right, Urlacher is much better.
