Tommy
Eichenberg.
Tommy
Eichenberg.
Ohio St.· 6'2"· 233 lb
"The last true throwback in the 2024 class: a green-dot captain who tackled everything between the tackles and asked the scheme to keep him out of space."Pre-draft read
Eichenberg was Ohio State's downhill signal-caller, a stack linebacker who lived between the tackles and made the front go. He played with his hands inside on climbing guards, kept his shoulders square, and attacked downhill the moment a gap declared itself. Tackling was the calling card: he arrived low, wrapped, and finished without giving up yards after contact.
Against the pass he was a zone-first defender who read the quarterback's eyes and covered the hook well, but he lacked the change of direction to carry backs and tight ends down the field. The athletic ceiling was ordinary, so the signature was operational: green-dot communication, elite processing on run keys, and the willingness to take on lead blockers every single snap.
Two-gap-friendly base defense that keeps the MIKE clean behind big bodies — 3-4 or heavy nickel fronts with a nose who eats the A-gap.
Year 1: base-down MIKE in run-heavy packages plus a full-time core special teams role. Ceiling: two-down starting MIKE who wears the green dot and comes off in nickel.
A light, matchup-driven nickel defense that asks its linebackers to run with tight ends and carry backs up the seam on 70% of snaps — that scheme exposes his hips and takes away his run-fit value.
Value rises with a defensive front that keeps guards off him; falls fast when he has to make plays in space.
2024 NFL Draft Highlights: LB Tommy Eichenberg
Pre-draft cutup of his downhill run fits and tackling volume at Ohio State.
Tommy Eichenberg 2022 Ohio State Highlights
His best season: 120 tackles, 12 TFL and the pick-six against Iowa.
Tommy Eichenberg Highlights, Las Vegas Raiders | Round 5, Pick 13
Draft-day reel framing his fit as an early-down thumper for Las Vegas.
A five-year Buckeye and two-time captain, Eichenberg was one of the most decorated linebackers in college football when he left, and none of it came from testing numbers. He was a run-first, front-facing linebacker whose value showed up in the alignment of the whole defense: he set the checks, sorted the fits, and made the tackle he was assigned to make.
The 2022 tape was the resume. He led Ohio State with 120 tackles and 12.0 tackles for loss over 13 games, added 2.5 sacks and a 15-yard pick-six against Iowa, and ranked among the national leaders in solo stops. The 2023 season was a step back statistically as injuries cost him three games and the defense funneled work elsewhere, though he still posted 82 tackles in 10 games and won the Big Ten's Butkus-Fitzgerald award as the conference's best linebacker.
The board saw a thumper without the coverage range or the athletic profile modern defenses ask for at off-ball linebacker. That combination pushed a first-team all-conference player deep into Day 3, and Las Vegas took him at 148 knowing exactly what it was buying: an early-down banger and a special teams weapon, not a three-down starter.
- 01
Tackling reliability
Arrives with his pads under the ball carrier, wraps through contact, and rarely gives up extra yards once he gets a hand on someone.
- 02
Run-key processing
Diagnoses gap schemes and zone flow instantly, triggering downhill before the pulling guard can get to his landmark.
- 03
Block deconstruction
Plays with strong inside hands and can stack and shed climbing linemen instead of running around them.
- 04
Leadership and communication
Two-time captain who wore the green dot, set the front, and got the back seven aligned under tempo.
- 05
Production at the point of attack
Led Ohio State with 120 tackles and 12.0 tackles for loss in 2022, ranking among the national leaders in solo stops.
- 01
Coverage range
Lacks the hip flexibility and speed to carry tight ends vertically or match backs on option routes out of the backfield.
- 02
Athletic ceiling
Ordinary short-area burst and long speed; he wins with anticipation rather than closing juice on the perimeter.
- 03
Space tackling
Far more comfortable in a phone booth than in the open field, where quicker ball carriers can make him miss.
- 04
Pass rush value
Limited as a blitzer beyond straight-line pressure, with a thin plan when the first move gets absorbed.
— — — positional median (p50)
- 40 yd
- —s
- Vertical
- 32.5inp50
- Broad jump
- 116inp50
- Three-cone
- —s
- Shuttle
- 4.24sp50
- Bench
- —rep
| Yr | Team | G | Tkl | Sk | Int | PD | FF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Ohio State | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | Ohio State | 13 | 64 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 2022 | Ohio State | 13 | 120 | 2.5 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| 2023 | Ohio State | 10 | 82 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Career | — | 37 | 268 | 3.5 | 2 | 5 | 1 |
Per cfbstats.com game-by-game totals (2020-2023). 2019 was a true-freshman special teams year with no recorded defensive stats. Fumble recoveries not verified by season, left null.
A dash means the figure is not published by a source we trust — never a zero we invented.
Tough, instinctive backup MIKE with core special teams value and spot starts in run-heavy weeks.
Ceiling as a high-volume tackling MIKE who calls the front and lives on early downs.
Career special teams contributor who never claims a defensive role.
Everything above is the pre-draft evaluation. This section is what actually happened — updated year over year.
The Raiders used him the way Day 3 linebackers usually get used. As a rookie in 2024 he played 14 games with 13 tackles, almost all of it in the kicking game while veterans handled the base defense. Year two was where he found a real identity: he appeared in all 17 games in 2025, logged 36 tackles, and set the franchise record for special teams tackles in a single season, becoming the kind of core-four player coaches build coverage units around. Heading into 2026 the picture did not change on defense — Las Vegas signed Nakobe Dean and Quay Walker to headline the linebacker room, leaving Eichenberg as depth behind them and a fixture on teams.
In hindsight the evaluation was accurate on both ends. The scouts who said the coverage limitations would cap him at two downs were right, and so were the ones who said the toughness and processing would keep him employed. A fifth-round pick who plays every game, owns a franchise record, and stays on the roster through a full linebacker rebuild is a clean return on the price. The only thing the pre-draft consensus underrated was how fast that special teams value would show up.
Data note: Per cfbstats.com game-by-game totals (2020-2023). 2019 was a true-freshman special teams year with no recorded defensive stats. Fumble recoveries not verified by season, left null.