Comparing Year-Two Liam Eichenberg To McGlinchey And Stanley
The shoes Liam Eichenberg stepped into could not have been any bigger, as the Notre Dame left tackle stepped into a position that was manned by three straight first round picks. In fact, the only three players to man the left tackle position in the Brian Kelly era - prior to Eichenberg taking over - were all first round picks.
Zack Martin manned left tackle from 2010 to 2013 before being taken by the Dallas Cowboys with the 16th overall pick of the 2014 NFL Draft.
Ronnie Stanley started at right tackle in 2013 before starting the 2014-15 seasons at left tackle, and he went on to become the sixth overall pick of the 2016 NFL Draft.
Mike McGlinchey started at right tackle in 2015 before moving over to left tackle in the 2016-17 seasons, and the San Francisco 49ers picked him ninth overall in the 2018 NFL Draft.
McGlinchey and Stanley were consensus All-Americans in their final seasons at Notre Dame, and Martin should have been. Those All-American seasons for Stanley and McGlinchey came in their third season in the starting lineup, and Martin was a four-year starter at Notre Dame.
When discussing Eichenberg, he is often evaluated through the lens of what those players were by the time their careers were over, which is an unfair evaluative method. I’m of the view that when making evaluations is best to look at players where they were at the same stage of their careers, and further I prefer time in the starting lineup more than years in the program.
Eichenberg has been a starter for just two seasons, and he enters his third season in the starting lineup and final season at Notre Dame. He gets one final shot to leap into the elite category that his predecessors achieved by the time their careers were over.
Let’s look at how Pro Football Focus evaluated Eichenberg, McGlinchey and Stanley in their second seasons in the starting lineup.
The first part of the chart above compares the second season as a starter for the last three Notre Dame left tackles. According to PFF, Eichenberg and McGlinchey had almost identical overall numbers, while Stanley was slightly better.
Eichenberg had a better pass blocking grade and a better pass blocking efficiency percentage than both of his predecessors.
McGlinchey had 11 penalties in his second season (2016) and Eichenberg had 10 (2019), compared to just four for Stanley in his second season (2014). Digging through the numbers it would seem clear that all three players would have had almost identical year-two numbers if the penalty aspect was taken out of the equation.
Ironically, Stanley had 11 penalties in 2015 during his All-American campaign.
If you look at the pressures allowed (PR) on a per snap basis, Eichenberg had better pass pro numbers than both McGlinchey and Stanley. In fact, his pressures allowed rate was also better than Stanley and McGlinchey in their All-American seasons.
The second graph compares Eichenberg’s second season as a starter to the second season of the six offensive tackles taken in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft.
Not one of the six players taken in the first round in 2020 had a better pass blocking percentage or pass blocking grade in their second season than Eichenberg had in 2019, and only Andrew Thomas of Georgia could match it.
Thomas was the only player with a better pressures per snap rate than Eichenberg, and only Austin Jackson of USC matched it. Eichenberg allowed fewer hits on the quarterback per snap than did Jackson.
RUN GAME PRODUCTION NEEDS TO IMPROVE
There are some areas where Eichenberg can continue improving as a pass blocker, but he’s already among the nation’s best, and that must continue in 2020. He cannot afford the pass pro step back that Stanley had a bit of in his third starting season (2015).
Where Eichenberg must show the most growth, and this is clear on film and in the PFF grades, is as a run blocker. He got much better down the stretch last season, and he had some strong moments throughout the season, but consistency is something that Eichenberg still lacks.
If he wants to take that big leap in 2020 the will be the area where his game must show the greatest improvement.
The baseline indicator is good for Eichenberg.
McGlinchey was a much, much better run blocker than Eichenberg in their second seasons, and it would take quite the jump for Eichenberg to match the run game production and grades for McGlinchey.
Eichenberg’s year-two run blocking grade was slightly better than Stanley’s, and it was better than five of the six first round picks from 2020 in their second seasons as starters.
Eichenberg has a chance to develop into a star offensive tackle in 2020. The talent is there, the size is there, the experience is now there and he has a strong supporting cast up front.
His production in 2019 also has him on the cusp of being that kind of player, the question now is can Eichenberg - with the help of offensive line coach Jeff Quinn - make the similar third-year leap that his predecessors made.
If he does, the Ohio native will not only be one of the nation’s best blockers, he’ll likely be a key figure in what could, and should be the nation’s best line.
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