The Las Vegas Raiders had plenty of disappointing players last season, but Tommy Eichenberg wasn't one of them.
It’s easy for certain players to get lost in the shuffle given all the big moves the Las Vegas Raiders have made in free agency recently, but linebacker Tommy Eichenberg shouldn’t be one of them. He’s become one of those core special teamers that every team needs, and Ray Aspuria of Silver and Black Pride did a profile of Eichenberg that’s well worth reviewing, especially since the linebacker set a franchise record last season.
Let the review begin. Eichenberg was a fifth-round pick out of Ohio State, and it wasn’t exactly a surprise to see him wind up on special teams since he’s 6’2” and just 234 pounds. That’s light for a linebacker, but perfect for special teams.
He excelled in that role right away, playing 313 snaps in his rookie year, although he did play in just 14 games due to some injury issues. Last year, though, he upped that number to 371 snaps while playing in all 17 games, and Eichenberg set a franchise record that’s stood for 31 years when he had 23 special team tackles.
The linebacker already knew the drill coming into Ohio State. He knew he’d be joining a stacked defense full of high draft picks, which meant there was only one way for him to get on the field as an underclassmen.
“Back in college we always used to say, ‘the best players play,’” Eichenberg said on the Raiders’ team website. “So I knew that was the only way I could get on the field back in college, because defense was just kind of a far shot when you’re young and there’s a lot of great players ahead of you.
“I really just tried to get on teams my freshman year and I used that to gain trust from the coaches and go from there. If you can do your job right on teams, then they’re like, ‘Maybe we can use him on defense.’ Especially when you’ve got to be able to tackle and run. Some of the harder things in football are what (special) teams requires.”
Eichenberg has served as a gunner on the Raiders punt team, which is easily one of the most thankless jobs in football. As Aspuria notes, it’s a job where you can do everything right and still end up with no success if things don’t break right, and there are plenty of plays that end in a bad way for even the best special teasers.
“I never counted the tackles ever. People would always try to tell me how many I had and I told them, ‘Don’t tell me, I don’t want to know,’” Eichenberg explained. “Honestly, when you look at it, one of the harder things about teams is if the ball is coming your way. Because the ball can go so many different ways and some of these games, the ball just came my way and I got lucky.”
The linebacker has also been getting a chance to earn defensive reps, but he knows his role and isn’t complaining. He has new coaches to impress in Joe DeCamillis on special teams and defensive coordinator Rob Leonard, but it’s never a good idea to bet on core special teamers like Eichenberg when it’s just all about effort and the willingness to take on a difficult role.