Luke Kuechly is arguably the best linebacker in football. This is his fifth NFL season, and in the previous four he was named either Defensive Rookie of the Year (2012) or both a Pro Bowler and first-team All-Pro (2013, 2014, 2015). He also was named as the NFL's Defensive Player of the Year in 2013.
Kuechly's teammate, Thomas Davis, is also one of the best linebackers in football. He's not quite as decorated as Kuechly, having somehow been selected for the Pro Bowl and All-Pro team only once in his 11-year career, but he has long been one of the NFL's best at his position against both the run and, especially, the pass.
During the four-plus years they have played together, they have inarguably been one of the best linebacker duos in the NFL, if not the best. Saints quarterback Drew Brees, who knows a thing or two about playing against Kuechly and Davis, recently went even further with his praise.
"Those two linebackers, Thomas Davis and Luke Kuechly are one of the best tandems certainly in the business now, but maybe ever. Those two guys are pretty incredible," Brees said, per ESPN.com. "Just what they do and how they execute the defense and run the scheme and get everybody squared away with what they're doing, they're a very smart group and a high performing group. I've got a lot of respect for these guys."
Placing them alongside tandems like Mike Singletary and Otis Wilson, Jack Ham and Jack Lambert, Lawrence Taylor and Harry Carson among others is certainly high praise. Their impact on the field is right up there with the best of the best, even if they haven't been together all that long just yet. Davis is 33 years old now so they may not play together for much longer, but this stretch has definitely been excellent.
