Carolina Panthers Look Forward to Seeing Luke Kuechly, Jon Beason on the Field Together

By Robert Neely
Featured NFL Writer

The Carolina Panthers lost their preseason opener to the Houston Texans 26-13, but the hometown Charlotte crowd got a great taste of what first-round pick Luke Kuechly brings to the team.

Kuechly had two solo tackles in three drives of action, and both were impressive. The first was a stuff of Ben Tate for no gain on a second-and-goal play from the Panthers’ two-yard line. That stop was a big reason why the Texans had to settle for a field goal on that drive.

On the Texans’ next drive, Kuechly stripped the ball from Arian Foster, and teammate Sherrod Martin recovered the fumble. Kuechly finished with four total tackles in one quarter of action.

Kuechly was listed behind veteran Thomas Davis at the weak-side spot on the Panthers’ initial depth chart, but it’s hard to imagine Kuechly failing to win the job coming out of camp. Davis is coming off of torn ACLs in three consecutive years, and it’s far more likely that the Panthers find a featured role for Davis instead of counting on him as a regular starter.

Kuechly’s solid debut was impressive for a couple of reasons. For one, he is playing a new position. After starring at middle linebacker at Boston College, Kuechly is moving to weak-side linebacker with the Panthers because former three-time Pro Bowler Jon Beason is entrenched in the middle.

But Beason didn’t play against the Texans, leaving Kuechly playing alongside Jason Phillips. Phillips didn’t have a bad game, but he is in a dogfight just to make the roster.

When the Panthers finally get a look at the pairing of Kuechly and Beason, along with veteran James Anderson, they will have more athleticism at linebacker than in any time in recent history.

That’s something that Panthers fans – and players and coaches as well – can’t wait to see.

Follow Robert on Twitter – @robertneely

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