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Patrick Willis vs Luke Kuechly


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Who was better?  

76 members have voted

  1. 1. Who was better?



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5 hours ago, y2lamanaki said:

Well, yeah - his numbers would be better on less-talented defenses. Willis had to compete for stats in the prime of his career with another all-pro linebacker in the middle of the field. And Kuechly's numbers aren't better across the board as Willis was the better blitzing linebacker and racked up more sacks, QB hits, and forced fumbles.

 

Correct. It's really important to remember that they were actually not the same type of linebacker. 

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Luke Keuchly. His ability to chess match opposing QBs and know the plays ahead of time  gives him the edge. Especially in today’s NFL. He was the Manning if MLBs. 
 

He always put himself and his teammates in position to make plays. The defense always had a chance for a third down stop. Also, he ended Tony Romos career which was awesome.

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9 hours ago, RabidPanther89 said:

Luke Keuchly. His ability to chess match opposing QBs and know the plays ahead of time  gives him the edge. Especially in today’s NFL. He was the Manning if MLBs. 
 

He always put himself and his teammates in position to make plays. The defense always had a chance for a third down stop. Also, he ended Tony Romos career which was awesome.

he really was amazing at predicting plays before they happened. QBs would call audibles and then Luke would tell the defense what he just audibled to. 

Imagine being on offense and hearing the other teams LB calling out an audible when there is like 5s left on the playclock. lol must be so unnerving.

The guy was a true gamer, and one of the best of the era, no doubt about it. Dude looked like he was chiseled out of stone by a Mediterranean god lol 

Modern offenses are so fast and complex, you have to have both mental and physical speed. Luke had both in spades to go along with good technique. He was a technician. Good for him for making the tough decision. That retirement video was some real emotion, and I respect the guy for doing the announcement the way he did it. 

 

In my book, both guys are first ballot HOFers. Shame willis didnt even make it as a finalist in his first year. will be interesting to see how luke is received 

 

Also, the thread isnt meant to be soley 'who was better on 1 specific day' you could set your own parameters

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19 hours ago, Nabbs4u said:

Kuechly's numbers across the board are better then Willis's Tackles (1092), PD (66), TO's (25), Tck 4 loss (75). On far less talented Defenses IMO.

Luke

He played more games, the only stat he is truly better at is Ints and Willis makes the difference in forced fumbles. I don't think you could go wrong with either but I going with Willis I think he was a little bit more of a freak of nature and harder hitter.

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I remember ppl saying if Willis played in a 4-3 defense he would have been better  then Ray Lewis. P Willis first 4 years showed he was easly the best in the league. The emergence of Bowman and is playmaking ability made people forget P Willis but people never realized  Willis was a much more and consistant player. Willis IQ, speed and strenght was amazing sucks we had to see him retire early. 

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Why you guys are bringing up stats to try and compare a 3-4 ILB to a 4-3 MLB who played in Tampa-2 defense is crazy in the first place. You guys are acting like they both linebackers had the same responsibilities in each of the defensive schemes they played in and they didn't. 

Edit: Anyhow, I'll take the guy who had more ground to cover and still played lights out against both the pass and run game.

Edited by JustAnotherFan
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20 hours ago, Yin-Yang said:

I think it’s Willis. Similar skill set, but a next level athlete.

Willis (6011, 242) - 
40: 4.56
Vert: 39
Broad: 9-11
3-Cone: 7.23
Shuttle: 4.46
Bench: 22

Kuechly (6032, 242) - 
40: 4.58
Vert: 38
Broad: 10-3
3-Cone: 6.92
Shuttle: 4.12
Bench: 27

I know combine numbers aren't everything, but one could argue Kuechly was actually a better pure athlete as far as testing numbers go. There certainly wasn't a massive gap between the two. 

Edited by BRANDON26841X
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2 hours ago, BRANDON26841X said:

Willis (6011, 242) - 
40: 4.56
Vert: 39
Broad: 9-11
3-Cone: 7.23
Shuttle: 4.46
Bench: 22

Kuechly (6032, 242) - 
40: 4.58
Vert: 38
Broad: 10-3
3-Cone: 6.92
Shuttle: 4.12
Bench: 27

I know combine numbers aren't everything, but one could argue Kuechly was actually a better pure athlete as far as testing numbers go. There certainly wasn't a massive gap between the two. 

Testing numbers look similar but on the field Willis was basically a Safety playing ILB. It's not even a question who was more athletic on the field.

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3 hours ago, BRANDON26841X said:

Willis (6011, 242) - 
40: 4.56
Vert: 39
Broad: 9-11
3-Cone: 7.23
Shuttle: 4.46
Bench: 22

Kuechly (6032, 242) - 
40: 4.58
Vert: 38
Broad: 10-3
3-Cone: 6.92
Shuttle: 4.12
Bench: 27

I know combine numbers aren't everything, but one could argue Kuechly was actually a better pure athlete as far as testing numbers go. There certainly wasn't a massive gap between the two. 

I think you can find a ton of examples of players who have similar combine numbers but look very different on the field. Think Kuechly and Willis fall into that category. Luke is a great athlete but Willis was a different animal. 

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