Welcome back to the Dolphins Draft Film Room series. Today’s subject is Miami’s newest offensive tackle, Liam Eichenberg, who the team selected with the 42nd overall pick after trading up from pick number 50. 

Miami selected Eichenberg just one season after taking offensive tackles Austin Jackson and Robert Hunt with top-50 picks in the 2020 NFL Draft. I was a staunch advocate for drafting another offensive tackle this year as both Hunt and Jackson underwhelmed as rookies. 

In Hunt’s defense, he played out of position at tackle and should be much better playing guard this coming season. As for Eichenberg will replace Hunt at right tackle this coming season despite playing almost exclusively at left tackle for the Fighting Irish. He did play some right tackle in high school, though. 

Let’s dive into the film and see what Miami will be getting with their new starting tackle, who will be tasked with protecting Tua Tagovailoa’s blindside. 

 

The most important thing to note when watching Eichenberg’s film is how experienced he is. He started in 38 straight games for the Fighting Irish and played through a pretty bad eye injury against Florida State this past season. He’s a football player. 

His experience and football acumen shows up in his pass blocking technique. His sets are consistently clean and controlled. He does lean or gets too aggressive, nor does he overset out of his kick slide. Every rep is precise and repeatable. 

Eichenberg hasn’t given up a sack since the 2018 season because most of his reps end up like the one you see above. He gets both his hands inside the chest plate of the rusher and then completely locks him out. Once he gets hands on the rep is, typically, over. 

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This set is a little deeper as Eichenberg doesn’t go out to attack Pitt EDGE Rashad Weaver, but instead, waits for him at the apex of the arc. Eichenberg proceeds to land his first punch in the chest plate, giving him a decisive advantage. 

He then gets his other hand on Weaver’s shoulder to help ride him along the outside of the pocket, so he doesn’t even sniff quarterback Ian Book. I love that as Eichenberg continues to ride Weaver he finishes the block and finishes him into the ground. 

Eichenberg isn’t renowned for his power or overly physical nature, but he takes advantage of his chances to impose his will on opposing defenders fairly. My only complaint with this rep is Eichenberg’s first punch doesn’t do much to stop Weaver in his tracks. If he can develop a little more pop in his punch, he could really take a jump as a player. 

 

Despite not giving up a sack for two whole seasons, there were some reps where Eichenberg got bailed out by Ian Book—there were way more reps where Eichenberg bailed out Book, but I degrees. 

Simply put, Eichenberg is not an elite athlete. He’s an incredibly average one on film, and he doesn’t have prototypical size or arm length either. This means he needs to win pretty much solely on technique. 

This rep becomes a loss for him after Weaver uses a chop move to prevent Eichenberg from winning first contact as he did in the previous reps. This leaves Eichenberg completely unbalanced, allowing Weaver to blow by him and miss a sack. 

If Eichenberg doesn’t win first contact and establish good hand placement, he’s going to struggle to win reps. This is not a problem exclusive to Eichenberg as the same thing could be said for almost every offensive lineman in the NFL. 

However, many NFL offensive tackles can recover with athleticism or arm length, which Eichenberg simply can’t. 

 

Something both Robert Hunt and Austin Jackson—more so Jackson— struggled with last season was handling stunts and twists up front. Eichenberg’s college film is pretty much teach tape on how to handle stunting lineman. 

He’s not the best athlete in the world, but he understands timing, and his extensive experience allowed him to develop good anticipation upfront. The rep above shows his prowess off as he pushes the crasher into the interior and then detaches to handle the looper with relative ease. 

These players will move considerably faster in the NFL. Still, Eichenberg has the football intelligence to handle different fronts early in his career compared to Miami’s investments in a tackle last season. 

 

In the running game, Eichenberg profiles best as a positional blocker. His functional strength and power are perfectly fine, but he’s not a player who will pancake a ton of defenders. Instead, he will establish good positioning and seal off defenders like in the play above. 

Eichenberg’s length is pretty limited, but he fires off the snap, gets his right hand inside the chest plate, and then turns his butt to the sideline, completely sealing off the running lane for his running back. 

Miami typically wants players with a little more pop in the running game. Players like Hunt, Solomon Kindley, and even the recently traded Ereck Flowers are all powerhouses in the running game. However, Eichenberg’s ability to consistently “do his job” should remove some of the high variance play from Miami’s line in the running game. 

 

Eichenberg did show a little bit of pop when he was asked to collapse down the line of scrimmage on defensive tackles. He plays with pretty good leverage and proved he could make reach blocks despite the limited length. 

This allows him to attach and drive to three techniques with relative ease like in the play above. Eichenberg’s power isn’t overwhelming, but he does a good job keeping his lower body engaged at all times. 

Despite modest lower body strength, Eichenberg’s pure effort when engaged can lead to some pancakes given he established good leverage early in the rep. I expect Miami to give him plenty of opportunities like this one in his rookie season. He and Hunt collapsing down the line should be a ton of fun to watch. 

 

Conclusion: 

There isn’t a ton of big picture stuff to say about Eichenberg’s game. He’s a high floor player with a ton of experience who should be ready to contribute early in his career; however, with that said, there is a worthwhile conversation about his limited developmental ceiling that needs to take place. 

Will he be an “above replacement” player or will Miami always be trying to upgrade him. I think he will be a solid starter throughout his rookie contract and remain slightly above replacement. There is no negative connotation behind that statement because Miami desperately needs stability upfront, which Eichenberg should provide. 

This pick made the Dolphins’ offensive line better in two spots. Eichenberg should be an upgrade at right tackle while Robert Hunt should see a jump in his play at guard. That’s about as good as you can ask for.