I didn't think this fact got enough national play so I'm here to remind every one.
Luke Kuechly now leads the NFL in tackles and has his sights set on a new Panther rookie record.
Tackles | Interceptions | Fumbles | ||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Rk | Player | Team | Pos | Comb | Total | Ast | Sck | SFTY | PDef | Int | TDs | Yds | Lng | FF | Rec | TD |
1 | Luke Kuechly | CAR | MLB | 130 | 79 | 51 | 1.0 | -- | 5 | 1 | 0 | -3 | -3 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
2 | Chad Greenway | MIN | OLB | 126 | 78 | 48 | 2.0 | -- | 5 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
3 | Jerod Mayo | NE | OLB | 125 | 75 | 50 | 3.0 | -- | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
4 | James Laurinaitis | STL | MLB | 119 | 98 | 21 | 0.5 | -- | 3 | 1 | 0 | 18 | 18 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
5 | Lavonte David | TB | OLB | 117 | 94 | 23 | 1.0 | -- | 4 | 1 | 0 | 27 | 27 | 0 | -- | -- |
So Kuechly's competition should be LB Lavonte David, #5 on the list above, CB Casay Heyward in Green Bay and Patriots DE Chandler Jones. Tackles are not as sexy as interceptions and sacks so Kuechly has that going against him. Also consider he plays on a 4-9 team whereas all the others are playing on winning teams.
Whether he wins the award or not I'm ecstatic about the draft pick. Thoughts?