THE MYTH OF KUECHLY'S HOLE

...wait, that came out wrong.

Look, you can't swing at a BC 2012 fall preview and miss a mention of Luke Kuechly. He was the face, the soul and, well, obviously the body of the team. Top ten draft pick, record setter and so much more.

The reason Luke recorded as many tackles as he did was because he was damn good. Let's not forget that for a second. But let's also not forget that BC's defense was called on to do a hell of a lot last year, and Luke was on the field quite a bit.

But, let's look at one such comment, from SI's Holly Anderson:

Last year: The perpetual All-American linebacker led the nation in tackles, averaging a head-turning 15.92 stops per game. The next closest defender, Akron’s Brian Wagner, averaged 13.36. The next closest guy on Kuechly’s own team, Kevin Pierre-Louis, recorded a little more than eight per game. In related news, Luke Kuechly had to be on the field a lot.

This year: Kuechly’s apparent replacement, Sean Duggan, attended the same high school as his predecessor, and started three games last season at weakside linebacker. Thinking about Boston College football makes us sad. Can we go back to asking Frank Spaziani about the Red Sox instead?

The name of the piece that's from? "Ten teams with huge holes to fill in 2012".

So Luke may have been responsible for two of our four wins last year (NC State, where he made nine consecutive tackles in the fourth, and Miami). And yes, at MIKE, that's pretty ridiculous for a defensive player to be that involved. Replacing an All-American is never easy.

Except calling this a huge hole is painfully unfair. Here's why:

1. Luke was damn good (I'm going to keep saying that so I don't get destroyed), but Luke was in a position for a lot of extra tackles because of (a) the time the defense was on the field and (b) the injuries on the D-line last year that shouldn't have let as many guys through to the second line.
2. The defense is still going to be rough this year, but it's not going to be because of Luke's absence. The linebackers are probably still the best and deepest part of the entire defensive side of the ball, and KPL will do just fine as the new leader back there and potentially average 10 tackles per game, not to mention Duggan looks like he can grow into something solid as well.
3. BC may have won two of its four victories by way of defense last year, but how many games did it lose because of defense last year. On top of that, how many games did it lose because of defense in the front seven? The pressure for the team to win games is still very much on the offense, and then to not lose in the secondary and in special teams. I wish we had the luxury to nitpick the linebackers.

I wish Luke was still in Maroon and Gold, he was an amazing player. The idea that it's even possible to fill the hole he left is ridiculous, but the idea that it's a necessity in order for success is the myth.

LUKE: GOIN' TO CAROLINA IN HIS TACKLE

Congrats to Luke Kuechly and his future in Carolina. Can't wait for that first matchup against Matty Ice's Falcons.

SEEING DOCTOR JAMES ANDREWS AND EUPHEMISM OF THE DAY

In our side lives away from BC sports, we have a bit of a fantasy baseball obsession. This may or may not cause certain participants to set up Google Alerts for the name of every single closer in the league and "Seeing Doctor James Andrews". It's a phrase we use to describe the famed doctor who does the Tommy John surgery, shelving pitchers for a good 10-12 months and usually ending their season.

According to reports from ATL: Luke Kuechly is Seeing Doctor James Andrews:

Also all the message boards are buzzing that Luke Kuechly needs Tommy John surgery on his elbow. He sustained the injury in the NC State game. The severity of the injury is not keeping him from making the rounds on the awards circuit. Surgery is always serious, but this is not a huge deal for a football player (as opposed to a pitcher). I don't think it will impact Luke's decision either way.

I actually disagree with Bill's assessment about this not affecting Luke's decision (as does at least one other commenter). If Keeks is shelved through the spring workouts - as good as his resume may be - there will be teams less willing to take a chance on potential changes to guaranteed money until they can see how he has healed. Don't forget: there's a new pay scale for rookies after the NFL ended its summer-long lockout - and the magic draft positions are number 11 and number 26. If you are in the top 10 or top 25, the back end of the five-year rookie contract is impacted. If you haven't seen a guy full strength, would you really lock into a guy slotted into a fifth year option that may make him cost significantly more in guaranteed money?

And if you have a chance, when healthy, to be in that top ten guaranteed cash in a year - and perhaps fix the record books, fix the injustices of the coaches All-American list, pick up some more hardware - but most importantly, be in that top ten guaranteed cash, you wait.

RENAME IT THE KUECHLY

Butkus goes to Kuechly. Kuechly tackles the statue, Dick Butkus and Frank Spaziani, for good measure.

KUECHLY: ON SOMEONE'S HEISMAN LIST

From The Daily's Heisman Watch:

5. LUKE KUECHLY, LINEBACKER, BOSTON COLLEGENation’s leading tackler had 20 stops in Thursday night’s loss to Florida State to bring season total to 150. His 16.67 tackles per game would break the current NCAA record.

It's mainstream media, too - not just a poll of BC bloggers. I think few people have been getting really engaged in the Heisman chase this year since it's basically Luck's to lose, but Kuechly would be a bigger upset than a low-win pitcher from a west coast team picking up the Cy Young.

ALSO PICTURED: NUMBER OF FANS AT UMASS GAME

Montel Harris and Luke Kuechly are great, and looks like the BC stars got some love in the Boston issue of ESPN the magazine. I'm sure there's a supporting article, too. I'll read that. But for now, the picture (click to embiggen):