Luke Kuechly working to fix flaw in his game as he looks to get even better

Luke Kuechly looks to get even better.

For a man nicknamed “Clark Kent” (whose alter-ego is Superman), it may seem a bit silly to suggest that Luke Kuechly has a flaw in his game. However, according to the linebacker himself, he does have something that he wants to work on.

Coach Ron Rivera and Kuechly himself want the All-Pro to become a better pass rusher. With 12.5 in his career and two this season, it would not be misguided to think he should probably focus on working on other parts of his game. However, should he perfect his pass rushing abilities,  he would become even more dangerous than he is right now.

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As he told Brendan Marx of the Charlotte Observer, he is working very hard at trying to become a better pass rusher. Coach Ron Rivera said he has seen Luke Kuechly improve in this area and gave insight into what type of player his star linebacker is. Given that he has many skill sets, I applaud Rivera for pinpointing them accurately.

"“Luke is a very active player, he sees a lot of what’s going on, and one of the things he always wants to do is he wants to see where he thinks he has to improve,” Rivera said. “I know pass rush is one of those things because he’s not a natural blitzer.“He’s more of a read-and-react linebacker who just gets downhill. Learning to counter, to dip, to do more than just bull rush I think is really what he wanted to do, and he has worked on it, and you can see it from training camp on.”"

That’s what he has done throughout the course of his entire career. Watching many of his games while he was at Boston College, reading and reacting is exactly what he would do. One of the skill sets that he has carried with him to this day is the ability to read and then immediately make a play. As soon as his instincts take over, he is very difficult for any lineman to block. That is what has made him one of the top linebackers in the National Football League. He reads the play and reacts on it quickly instead of reading it and waiting for the play to develop.

It is not that he is doing anything wrong now. If anything, his 12.5 sacks are testament to how versatile he is. However,  if he can develop a series of pass-rushing moves, he could be even more difficult to stop. Especially with guys like Julius Peppers getting older, he certainly needs to step up and become a key component of the pass rush moving forward. With how quick he gets to the football already, learning a series of moves to get to the quarterback should help him out tremendously. If he can acquire those skills, he will be in good shape.

It is always encouraging to hear a player wanting to get better every day. Especially when it is one of the top players on the defensive line, that can only lead towards success for the future.