Coach Rivera Wants To Keep Jon Beason in the Middle

I think Panther coach Ron Rivera just about had to let Jon Beason play where he wants -- which is obviously middle linebacker, based on his past statements -- after drafting Luke Kuechly in the first round.

Beason has played in multiple Pro Bowls. Kuechly, for all his gaudy tackle stats at Boston College, is a rookie. So you have to put Beason in the middle to start and Kuechly at weakside linebacker. That's not only the right football move, it's the right move in terms of team chemistry.

Will it stay that way? No way to tell. Kuechly is learning the middle spot, too, and Beason already knows the weakside spot. Who's to know where it goes as the season progresses and injuries factor in. But you can't just tell Beason -- coming off a long injury rehab and a prideful man, just as most every successful NFL player is -- to move outside for the rookie. Rivera, a former NFL linebacker himself, knows that.

With Thomas Davis, it's trickier. The odds are ultimately against Davis coming back from a third ACL surgery on the same knee, and both the Panthers and Davis know that. So do you start Davis over Kuechly automatically (I'm assuming here Beason and James Anderson will both start)?

That's a decision you have to take the Fifth on for now if you're Rivera -- just let it play out. It will be obvious by late August, if not earlier, what to do there.


(charlotteobserver.com)