Las Vegas Raiders' fifth-round draft pick was more for 2025 than the upcoming season
When the Las Vegas Raiders took linebacker Tommy Eichenberg out of Ohio State in the fifth round, they were thinking about the 2025 season more than they were this upcoming 2024 season. In 2024, they don't really need a new linebacker. They have a solid group, including Robert Spillane, one of the top backers in […]
When the Las Vegas Raiders took linebacker Tommy Eichenberg out of Ohio State in the fifth round, they were thinking about the 2025 season more than they were this upcoming 2024 season. In 2024, they don't really need a new linebacker. They have a solid group, including Robert Spillane, one of the top backers in the league last season, and Divine Deablo.
However, as things currently stand, the Raiders will only have one linebacker in the 2025 season, Amari Burney, who was a rookie last year. This pick tells me the Raiders are preparing for the 2025 season, when they may not be able to retain both Deablo and Spillane.
They got Spillane for super cheap last offseason, and he turned out to be the Raiders' second-best defender. After this season, he will likely ask for more money, or someone will outplay him compared to the Raiders.
Eichenberg is a lot like Antonio Pierce and even Spillane as a player. He played middle linebacker in a 4-2-5 (nickel) scheme. The Raiders used nickel more than any other team last season, so he's a scheme fit for defensive coordinator Patrick Graham.
He plays the way the Raiders like on their defense, too. According to Pro Football Network, he has had 29 tackles for loss/no gain since 2022, which is third among Big Ten linebackers.
Brandon Little of A to Z Sports covers Ohio State and sheds some light on Eichenberg and what the Raiders are getting.
Eichenberg played a ton of football and gradually improved as his career went on there. As a sophomore, Eichenberg came onto the scene with 64 tackles and was a bit slow at times diagnosing things. He made a nice bump in his junior season in 2022 with a monster season of 120 tackles, 2.5 sacks, 12 tackles for a loss, and an interception. Eichenberg is a thumper in the run game first and foremost that will bring physicality to any defense he is a part of. An elbow injury kept Eichenberg out for the stretch run of his senior season, or perhaps he goes a bit earlier.
The Raiders went on offense on the first three picks of the draft. The last two were defense with cornerback Decamerion Richardson and now Eichenberg. I bet Antonio Pierce was jumping up and down to start day three of the 2024 NFL Draft.
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