2021 Buccaneers Draft Profile: Notre Dame OT Liam Eichenberg
One of the biggest areas of growth for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this season has been along the offensive line. Tampa Bay has given up the fourth fewest sacks in football this season after giving up the tenth most sacks a year ago, despite All-Pro left guard Ali Marpet missing three games with a concussion.
Donovan Smith has played injured at times throughout this season, however, his salary for next season is non-guaranteed and with the performance of first-round pick Tristan Wirfs at right tackle, his $14.25 million price tag for next season could be called into question.
Even though he was the fourth offensive tackle drafted this past April, Wirfs has been a plug and play starter on the right side of the line and has only given up a single sack this season. With the team likely picking in the early 20’s in this year’s draft, offensive tackle is an increasingly probable option as roster decisions will need to be made not too long after the Bucs' projected playoff appearance.
Picking in this range likely puts Tampa out of competition for Oregon's Penei Sewell (a likely top-five lock) or Texas' Samuel Cosmi, an athletic player who has already declared for the draft and projects to go in the mid teens after combine testing.
Notre Dame has a strong reputation for offensive linemen, with players like Zack Martin, Quenton Nelson and Ronnie Stanley all going in the first round in the past several years. With Brian Kelly as head coach, every Fighting Irish left tackle has been a first round pick, and in his third year as a starter, Liam Eichenberg is well on his way to being the next.
He did not give up a sack last season and has not given one up this year after sitting behind future top-10 pick Mike McGlinchey early in his college career. His ability to consistently win off the snap with his initial punch and identify blitzes and stunts as a college starter are pro-level traits that he has shown off against the high level of competition in the ACC over the past several seasons.
While he might fall behind a player like Cosmi or Virginia Tech's Christian Darrisaw due to their athletic profiles, the only area where this shows up on tape prominently is his ability to get downfield on defenders and helping to create holes on outside runs. At 6-foot-6 and 305 pounds, he has an NFL frame and his length gives him a larger range of motion as a blocker that will allow him to generate lanes for runners or time in the pocket for the quarterback.
Under the tutelage of a coach like Harold Goodwin, who has shown monumental growth in a developmental player like Alex Cappa over the past few seasons, Eichenberg could be able to play immediately and even represent an upgrade over Smith if he is given time to acclimate to the pro game.
While this year's class doesn't have a consensus OT2 behind Sewell, I think Eichenberg is a plug and play fit for what the Buccaneers want to do in the run game, which is make mismatches with gap assignments and getting players downhill in order to allow a one-cut runner like Ronald Jones II the space to accelerate.
