One question more than a few people have asked me is if Luke Kuechly could possibly play OLB, specifically SAM. Initially I wasn’t so sure. His Combine workout opened a lot of eyes so I went back to the tape to see if my take on this had changed.

I popped in the BC/Miami game. Here are some notes I took:

Kuechly — Read end around to Miller and got him for loss. Took a good angle on the play. When Miller tried to put on a move, Luke was able to react and still make the stop. Smart, patient player. Moves well laterally. Attacks upfield when he sees the ball and can get to it. Sometimes was lined up toward the outside. Will fight to shed blocks. Tackled RB after short catch over the middle. Great vision. Plays under control so that when he finds the football he can go get it. Flew out to the flat and slammed the FB down hard after a short catch. Almost picked off pass to Streeter on a deep seam route. PBU. Slammed down TE after short catch over the middle. Showed good closing speed when flying over to slam down a RB after short catch. Deflected a pass over the middle by skying for the ball. Deflected pass over the middle going to Streeter. Tommy was able to catch the deflection and got 8 yds on the play.

The Streeter PBU was really impressive. Kuechly ran downfield 30 or so yards with the WR and was in perfect position. The ball was underthrown and he made a good stab at picking it off, but just couldn’t hold on. Streeter ran well at the Combine so this isn’t a case of Luke staying with a lumbering player. He had to go all out to be in the right position on that play.

I do think Kuechly could play SAM in our system. The key to that is alignment. The Wide 9 has the DEs out wide and the OLBs off the ball and more to the middle of the field. The SAM is in the RG/RT area, but a couple of yards back. In the old system, the SAM would be up on the LOS and over the TE. He would be more of an edge player.

The x-factor here is what Juan Castillo wants to do with SAM. Last year he hoped Jamar Chaney would be a really coverage coverage LB who could handle RBs and TEs out in space. When Chaney moved to the middle, Juan switched up what he wanted out of Moise Fokou and Akeem Jordan. They were more focused on run defense.

If Juan wants to go back to a coverage guy, Kuechly would not fit as well. He’s good in zone and when sitting back and reading plays in front of him. Kuechly isn’t nearly as effective at running with a RB or TE out in the flat and reacting to the moves put on by the player.

I would certainly prefer Luke to stay at MLB, but it is interesting to at least consider the option of playing him at SAM. There is no prospect in this draft or in FA that is a perfect SAM target for us.

The most intriguing scenario is for the Eagles to sign David Hawthorne and then draft Luke Kuechly and put one at MLB and the other at SAM. You could figure out which combination worked best and then go with that.

Hawthorne played WLB in Seattle in the 2010 season. He’s got starting experience at OLB. Kuechly has the better SAM frame at 6’3, 242. He was mostly a MLB in college, but did play WLB for part of his Freshman season. Kuechly played Safety back in HS.

I truly doubt the Eagles go this way at LB. Adding a key FA LB and then using a Top 15 pick on a LB would be a huge change for them. Expect one or the other. If they did want to be aggressive, the team could add both guys and I think they could make it work.

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Today the Eagles added LB Monte Simmons, a Practice Squad player from SF. This isn’t a move to get excited about, but Simmons is an interesting guy.

At Kent State he racked up 21.5 sacks and 6 FFs. He is only 6’1, 234 so that sure doesn’t sound like DE size, even in the Wide 9. Most likely he’s here to compete at SAM. Simmons had a strong showing at his Pro Day last spring and has the athleticism to play in the NFL. I’ll have to go back and find some Kent State tape to watch and get a feel for his game.

Not a big deal, but with our LB situation, all competition is welcome.

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NFL Gimpy has up his new MAQB column. The Saints could be in for a big tumble. They have several key FAs who could leave and will likely lose at least one draft pick this year. They don’t have the cap space to just sign replacements. And losing Sean Payton for a month or two (or more?) could really hurt them. Ouch.

For those interested in hearing Adam Caplan’s show from Saturday, WCHE has a podcast up. Adam moves at a quick pace and covers a lot of NFL ground.

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Tags and new deals flying around the NFL today. I’ll take all of this in and then address it after coming up with a genius conclusion.