Green Bay Packers: 3 First Round Offensive Tackle Prospects

Liam Eichenberg – Notre Dame

In many ways, Eichenberg and Cosmi are very opposite in pass protection. Right away off the line, Eichenberg’s kick looks like he’s done it a million times, and it’s completely textbook, getting nice and deep and squaring his shoulders to the pass rusher. It all looks perfect until he gets too excited and lunges too far into a punch and gets blown by. To be fair, he’s good enough that usually, his punch connects, or he recovers well enough that he stays in front. If that weren’t true, he wouldn’t be a first-round pick possibility.

It’s disappointing seeing him get too eager and undisciplined to punch early and expose himself to the edge rusher because he does the initial footwork so often. Like Leatherwood, he’ll benefit from learning how the Packers do things in pass pro, but the lack of ability to wait, catch guys, and use his power to not get ran through is slightly troubling.

In the run game, he has a great IQ and understanding of angles, and where his aiming point has to be on the defender, he’s trying to get to. He also uses that aggressive punch and puts it to good use in the run game, making him a great power blocker. This makes him kind of an odd fit for the Packers as they’re a very zone-run-heavy team, but he has the capabilities to do both.

If he can fix a couple of things in pass protection, he has all the tools to be a really good tackle and could be the right tackle of the future in Green Bay for sure.

So who is your favorite offensive tackle that the Green Bay Packers could take in the first round? Personally, Leatherwood would be my pick because he’s similar to Eichenberg with some extra power, but Cosmi wouldn’t at all be a surprise because Brian Gutekunst and the Packers’ front office definitely love his large frame and physical tools.