Latest news with #Kuechly
USA Today
25-02-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Luke Kuechly talks about Shaq Thompson's time with Panthers
Now-former Carolina Panthers linebacker Shaq Thompson had the luxury of starting his NFL career under the wings of two franchise legends. And on Monday, one of those legends had the luxury of looking back on his time with his old mentee. Advertisement This morning, the Panthers announced that they will not be re-signing the veteran defender ahead of the 2025 campaign. That decision will mark the end of a 10-year run in Carolina for Thompson, who is now headed to free agency. Later on in the evening, Nick Carboni of WCNC Charlotte caught up with Panthers great Luke Kuechly at Greg Olsen's HEARTest Yard Ungala event. Carboni asked Kuechly about Thompson . . . Just spoke with #Panthers legendary LB Luke Kuechly about Shaq Thompson @wcnc — Nick Carboni (@NickCarboniWCNC) February 24, 2025 Thompson entered the league as a first-round pick back in 2015, at the beginning of Kuechly's fourth NFL season. The two would spend five years as teammates prior to Kuechly's retirement in 2020. Kuechly ended his career with the second-most solo tackles (690) in franchise history. Oh, and that mentee did pretty well for himself, too—as he sits fourth on that list (470) after a productive decade in Carolina.
USA Today
15-02-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Luke Kuechly gives his thoughts on who Panthers should draft with 8th overall pick
13 years ago, the Carolina Panthers selected Boston College linebacker Luke Kuechly with the ninth overall pick of the 2012 NFL draft. Little did many know, they'd end up with a future Defensive Player of the Year, five-time first-team All-Pro and a near-first-ballot Hall of Famer. This year, the Panthers will be in a very similar position—as they're slated to choose from the 2025 draft's eighth overall slot. And while the odds would dictate that they won't find themselves another Luke Kuechly, the team still has a chance to grab themselves one heck of a player. Kuechly recently chatted with Sports Lens editor DJ Siddiqi, who asked the former 'backer and current Panthers radio analyst for his thoughts on this spring's first-round pick. 'You have to find an impact player that helps you out,' Kuechly replied. 'Do we go defense? There's some good edge rushers, there's a couple of inside guys that are really good. Do we try to find Bryce more playmakers? I think sitting there at eight, we're going to have some really good opportunities. I'm looking forward to seeing what we do.' But does Kuechly have any specific 'impact' players in mind? He was then asked who he thinks Carolina should take. 'I'm a defensive guy, love pass rushers and I love big inside defensive linemen,' he stated. 'There's a guy in Michigan, Mason Graham, he's a stud. Abdul Carter, the two guys at Georgia, they're all over the place. We just gotta go pick the right one.' Considering the Panthers just set a new single-season record for most points allowed, investing that pick into an impact defender certainly makes sense. Unfortunately for Carolina, Graham and Carter—who are widely considered to be two of the very top talents of the class—seem unlikely to fall to them. The Panthers should, however, be in play for those Georgia guys—whether it's edge rusher Mykel Williams, linebacker Jalon Walker or even safety Malaki Starks. As for now, we'll wait for these prospects to show everyone what they have from the scouting combine in less than two weeks.
USA Today
13-02-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Panthers great Luke Kuechly reacts to missing out on being a first-ballot Hall of Famer
He may not be a Pro Football Hall of Famer, at least not yet, but Carolina Panthers legend Luke Kuechly is still a Hall of Fame pro. In a shock to many, Kuechly was not named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame's 2025 class last week. The former seven-time All-Pro linebacker and NFL Defensive Player of the Year missed out on becoming a first-ballot inductee, an honor reserved for the game's most elite. Among those surprised by the exclusion was FanDuel's Kay Adams, who hosted Kuechly on Thursday's episode of Up & Adams. But instead of making the topic about himself, Luke graciously turned the spotlight to the men who did make it in . . . This year's class includes wide receiver Sterling Sharpe, tight end Antonio Gates, cornerback Eric Allen and defensive end Jared Allen—who spent most of the 2015 season as a teammate of Kuechly's. Kuechly was, however, voted into the top seven amongst the 2025 finalists. So by rule, he is automatically a finalist for the 2026 class. Hang in there, Luke. It won't take much longer.
New York Times
10-02-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
The Hall of Fame's rule changes did not fix the problem. Here's how to do so
(Editor's note: This is excerpted from Mike Sando's Pick Six of Feb. 10, 2025.) The Hall adopted new rules this year to 'help ensure that membership in the Hall of Fame remains elite' after some felt too many borderline candidates were earning gold jackets. The changes reduced the class size to four in 2025 after the Hall averaged 7.8 inductees per year from 2015-2024, not counting a 20-member Centennial class. GO DEEPER Hall of Fame voting rules: Why the highest NFL honor is now more exclusive Antonio Gates, Eric Allen and Jared Allen earned enshrinement as modern-era players. Sterling Sharpe earned enshrinement as a senior player (retired at least 25 years). The four-member class was the Hall's smallest since 2005. The changes failed in another sense because, in my view as one of the 49 selectors, the committee did not sufficiently prioritize voting for the most elite candidates regardless of how long other candidates had been waiting. Advertisement Gates and linebacker Luke Kuechly met the super-elite standard better than the other modern-era finalists, but Kuechly, in his first year of eligibility, was forced to wait. Opinions on players vary. Not everyone will agree with my take on Kuechly relative to the other finalists. But I'm very confident the public outcry would be much louder if, say, Kuechly were excluded over a 10-year period than if Eric Allen, Jared Allen or both were excluded for that long (Eric Allen had been excluded much longer than that, gaining enshrinement in his 19th year of eligibility). Some voters advocate hurrying to enshrine long-eligible candidates before they fall into an abyss with other senior candidates, perhaps never to surface again. Some of these voters also complain about too many first-ballot selections, contending these players push others into the seniors category. This thinking was more defensible when enough slots were effectively available for nearly all finalists to earn enshrinement eventually. Following this line of thinking under the new, more restrictive rules creates a disconnect with the Hall's mission to improve class quality. That disconnect was on display Thursday night when the Hall introduced a class lacking in both size and star power. The table above stacks the 15 modern-era finalists for 2025 by how likely each was to earn enshrinement based on Pro Football Reference's Hall of Fame Monitor score, which takes into account career production and honors. This is not, by any means, how Hall classes should be elected. But it's a thoughtful, independent point of reference. It's telling when almost none of the highest-rated players earn enshrinement. Voters must recalibrate. The chart below arranges modern-era Hall of Fame player classes by weighted career AV (Y axis) and Hall of Fame Monitor score (X axis). The problem should resolve itself temporarily in 2026 when Drew Brees and Larry Fitzgerald become eligible. A three-man class with Brees, Fitzgerald and Kuechly would rank sixth among 46 modern-era player classes since 1980 in average Hall of Fame Monitor score (the 2025 class ranks 40th). Bill Belichick could be the choice in the senior/coach/contributor category, further elevating the 2026 class prestige. Advertisement There are other concerns. In addition to the 15 modern-era finalists listed above, the committee also considered three seniors, one coach and one contributor separately. Sharpe was the only one to earn enshrinement under rules that assure between one and three are enshrined. The Hall would be wise to reconsider slot allocation. Three slots for seniors is too many after 18 were enshrined in the past six years, including 10 in 2020. I see no obvious contributor candidates beyond Robert Kraft. Should that category be in the mix every year? Mike Holmgren, Mike Shanahan and Tom Coughlin are the strongest coach candidates, pending Belichick's eligibility. Their candidacies are stronger than those for contributors. The way things are set up now, voters pick three of the five finalists in this combined category, with 80 percent of votes (40 of 49 this year) required for enshrinement. Seven of the broader selection committee members serve on the subcommittee for senior candidates. They could, in theory, vote only for seniors, while the other subcommittee members (nine on the coach committee and seven on the contributor committee) must also choose players. I do not think subcommittee voters are this rigid, but with every vote being so precious, and with players naturally having the edge over coaches and contributors anyway, the 3-1-1 distribution exaggerates the imbalance. We saw the results of that imbalance when only Sharpe qualified, when many voters thought both Sharpe and Holmgren would make it. (Photo of Luke Kuechly: Jacob Kupferman / Getty Images)
USA Today
07-02-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Luke Kuechly honored to be in Pro Football Hall of Fame conversation despite snub
Hear this story NEW ORLEANS – Luke Kuechly will have to wait for a gold jacket. The Pro Football Hall of Fame's Class of 2025 was unveiled on Thursday evening, consisting of defensive end Jared Allen, cornerback Eric Allen, tight end Antonio Gates and wide receiver Sterling Sharpe, marking the smallest Hall of Fame class in 20 years. Excluded from the list is the former Carolina Panthers linebacker. Although he's disappointed not to be inducted into Canton in his first year of eligibility, Kuechly said he's honored to even "be in that conversation" and added that he's "excited" for his time to come one day. "It's exciting. I don't know about anxious," Kuechly told USA TODAY Sports Friday from Radio Row ahead of Super Bowl 59 in New Orleans. "To get voted in, everything that you've done is complete. I got done playing in 2019. Obviously all the work is in. Now at this point, you see if what you did is good enough to get into the Hall of Fame." PRO FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME SNUB? Eli Manning doesn't make cut for unusually small class of 2025 NFL STATS CENTRAL: The latest NFL scores, schedules, odds, stats and more. Many fans believe Kuechly did enough to receive his Hall of Fame call on Thursday, with one social media user labeling his omission as an "all-time snub." First-ballot finalists Eli Manning, Terrell Suggs, Adam Vinatieri and Marshal Yanda were also bypassed by the 49-member selection committee. "You look at the guys that got in and it makes total sense... It's good for the game," Kuechly said. "It's all guys you played with, played against and grew up watching. So it's cool to be mentioned in that same category." Kuechly was drafted out of Boston College with the ninth overall pick of the 2012 NFL Draft by the Carolina Panthers, where he played his entire eight-year career. He led the league in tackles his rookie season and was named the Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2012, in addition to the Defensive Player of the Year in 2013. Kuechly earned seven Pro Bowl nods, five first-team All-Pro honors and was named to the NFL 2010s All-Decade Team. Kuechly, along with the three other modern-era candidates Vinatieri, Willie Anderson and Torry Holt, will be an automatic finalists in next year's Pro Football Hall of Fame voting and advance to the final 15. The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.
