2026 NFL Draft: HoF legend Luke Kuechly names his surprise favourite LB

Hall of Famer Luke Kuechly was the best linebacker of his generation, hands down.

In a career spanning only eight years with the Carolina Panthers, he won the Defensive Rookie of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, was a five-time All-Pro, and was named to the NFL 2010s All-Decade Team.

Jacob Kupferman / Stringer

The combination of his resume and talent, coupled with the experience he gained as a pro scout and talent evaluator for the Panthers, makes his take on linebacker prospects in the 2026 NFL Draft as important as any.

Enough of the hard sell. The point is that when Kuechly raves about a linebacker in the 2026 class, his opinion lands harder than most.

Speaking on the JJ&Luke podcast, which he hosts with Panthers' long snapper J.J. Jansen, Kuechly revealed that Texas Tech Jacob Rodriguez is his "favourite guy."

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"You look at guys like him, and the one thing I think is the most important for backers is, how quickly can you process?" he began.

"I think he's a really good tackler, and his ball production has been phenomenal. I think four picks last year, he had seven forced fumbles.

He was behind the line of scrimmage TFL-wise 11 times, which in college football is a big number. And he's an attacker. Like, he goes, he goes and gets it, he doesn't wait," Kuechly continued.

In two years as a starter, Rodriguez's production was eye-catching. He had 254 combined tackles, six sacks, forced 10 fumbles, and notched five interceptions.

The knock on Rodriguez is that he lacks prototypical height and length for an off-ball linebacker.

While that criticism is fair, Kuechly is willing to overlook it.

"When you look at all that stuff, it only comes around when the Combine happens, and they measure you," he said, before making a comparison that almost beggars belief.

"Sizewise, a guy he's very similar to, a guy that no longer plays in the NFC South - Lavonte David, who I think is a Hall of Fame guy.

"Phenomenal, stud ... won a Super Bowl, team captain, checked every box," he continued.

"Height, weight, speed, Rodriguez is actually a little bit faster. Lavonte's arms are 7/8 of an inch longer. You know how many times they said Lavonte David's arms are short?” Kuechly asked.

He wrapped up his argument with a point that the tape measure will never pick up.

"The football player plays the game, and I think Jacob Rodriguez is one of those guys that he just makes plays on the ball."

Kuechly is acutely aware that Rodriguez won't be the first linebacker selected in the 2026 NFL Draft. That distinction, as he pointed out on the show, will almost certainly belong to Ohio State's Sonny Styles.

But draft capital aside, Kuechly remains extremely confident in his assessment. Rodriguez is his guy.

My take on Rodriguez, from DAZN News' Jason Abbey

I see a lot of what Kuechly sees in Rodriguez.

The groupthink is that the 23-year-old will be taken in the middle of the second round. In my last mock draft, updated earlier this week, I slotted the Texas Tech star to the Dallas Cowboys at No. 20 overall.

Will Rodriguez go in the first round? Find out by tuning into the 2026 NFL Draft on 23 April, broadcast live on DAZN.