Quarterback Cam Newton and middle linebacker Luke Kuechly are the first players most think of when the Carolina Panthers are mentioned. They're the ones most often seen in interviews and in commercials pushing products.

They're not the first that coach Ron Rivera mentions when it comes to the leadership that helped the Panthers win the past two NFC South titles.

Panthers coach Ron Rivera says Thomas Davis (right) has been a mentor for Luke Kuechly. AP Photo/Bob Leverone

"I start with Ryan Kalil and Thomas Davis," Rivera recently said at the NFL owners meetings in Phoenix.

Carolina's center and outside linebacker aren't high profile, although Kalil is a four-time Pro Bowl selection and Davis is known by a few more now after being named the NFL's Walter Payton Man of the Year in 2014.

But they are the players Rivera credits for keeping the team together during a 3-8-1 start and during the distraction of defensive end Greg Hardy's domestic violence case.

"Last year, through our entire set of circumstances we went through the whole year on the offensive side, on the offensive line, it was Kalil," Rivera said. "On the defensive side it was Thomas."

Newton and Kuechly weren't even the next two players Rivera mentioned in terms of leadership. Those were defensive end Charles Johnson and tight end Greg Olsen.

Then he brought up Newton and Kuechly, the first pick of the 2011 draft and the 2013 NFL Defensive Player of the Year.

"So the leadership and the way the hierarchy has kind of been set up, the guys that need to step up are the guys that have," Rivera said. "But for me it really does start with Kalil and Thomas. Those two guys have been tremendous, and have been a big part of what we've done over the four years.

"And what they've done, too, they've really mentored Cam and Luke."

What shouldn't be lost with the NFL draft approaching is of the six players Rivera mentioned, only Olsen wasn't drafted by Carolina.

Kalil was a second-round pick, 59th overall, in 2007. Davis was the 14th overall pick in 2005. Johnson was a third-round pick, 83rd overall, in 2007. Newton was the first pick in 2011 and Kuechly the ninth in 2012.

Olsen, the 31st pick by Chicago in 2007, was acquired in 2011 for a 2012 third-round pick.

This shows the importance of building the core group of leaders through the draft as opposed to free agency. That most of these players were selected in the first two rounds shows the importance of being right on those picks.

And for Rivera, it all starts with Kalil and Davis.

"Two veteran guys that have been with this organization for quite some time, that have been through the good and bad times, that have been with me from the beginning, that have been guys that have been very productive," Rivera said.

"They've helped our younger guys, our younger leaders, establish who they are. Having that kind of continuity is huge. It's big for who you are as a football team."