According to Willie McGinest of NFL.com, the Carolina Panthers have the third best linebacker corp in the NFL.

There is no question that the starting linebackers for the Carolina Panthers is a special group. According to Willie McGinest, the starting group of Luke Kuechly, Thomas Davis and Shaq Thompson is talented enough to be ranked third in the NFL even though they don’t have the depth of some other teams.

Some say Luke Kuechly is the best linebacker in the league, and his play certainly gives people reason to think so. We could tell when he wasn’t on the field last season. Kuechly and veteran Thomas Davis are able to control the entire Panthers defense from the linebacker position. Their impact on the field — how they diagnose and sniff out plays before they begin — demonstrates their knowledge of the game. Throw in young hybrid Shaq Thompson, who fits right in with what Carolina does in coverage, and this is a dangerous position group. Thompson can cover tight ends and running backs or he can be sent on certain blitzes. The Panthers could have the best starting unit in the league, but the two teams above have a little more depth.

The Denver Broncos and the Kansas City Chiefs were the only teams to finish ahead of the Panthers in these rankings.

The strength of this defense lies at the linebacker position and it allows the coaching staff flexibility from week to week in creating their gameplans.

The past few seasons, thanks to the athleticism of Kuechly and Davis, the Panthers have been able to play more nickel to combat spread offenses. However, they haven’t had to give up too much against the run because of the two linebackers ability to get sideline to sideline.

This year the defense may see a transition, or changing of the guard, as Shaq Thompson is expected to play more snaps in place of Davis. This will hopefully keep the veteran linebacker fresher over the course of the year.

This should still create problems for opposing offenses as Thompson, a former safety in college, has the ability to cover tight ends and running backs in matchups that typically would benefit the offense.

The biggest question, as McGinest notes, is the depth at the linebacker position behind the starters. This could be a concern, especially with Kuechly’s concussion issues the past two seasons. This group is very inexperienced and no other linebackers on the roster, outside of the starters, has a career start at the position.

The hope is that this issue will not come into play at all in 2017 as the Panthers’ starting linebackers continue to show why they are one of the best in the NFL.