Luke Kuechly has made a lot of tackles playing middle linebacker for the Panthers over the last seven seasons, but his attempt to add to those totals this season will see him taking on a slightly different role on defense.
The Panthers have been open about their plans to incorporate more 3-4 looks in 2019 and those looks will call for Kuechly to align differently while potentially facing more uncovered blockers than he has in the past. On Thursday, Kuechly said it’s not something that is causing him to have any sleepless nights.
“It’s just football. There’s been certain looks that we’ve run in the past that mimic what we do now. So it’s not completely foreign,” Kuechly said, via Joseph Person of TheAthletic.com. “There’s just a couple new things here and there that are different, but pretty straightforward.”
Kuechly said the alignment will be different at times, but “it just turns into the same thing we’ve always done” once the offensive play gets underway. If Kuechly’s play also turns out to be the same as it’s been in the past, the change in scheme should have a good chance of being successful.