Kansas City Chiefs Need Eric Fisher to Take Developmental Leap
The Kansas City Chiefs selected left tackle Eric Fisher with the No. 1 overall pick in 2013. Not only was he the first pick of that draft, he was also the first player taken by general manager John Dorsey and head coach Andy Reid.
Although the Chiefs went from 2-14 to 11-5 last season, Fisher was more of a liability at right tackle than one of the reasons for the turnaround. Some reasoned that he was sort of like the Derek Zoolander of offensive tackles—he could only play one side. Others suggested a year in an NFL weight room would do him good or that an injury was partially responsible for his poor play.
TOP NEWS
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
Colts Release Kenny Moore
Projecting Every NFL Team's Starting Lineup 🔮
Rookie WRs Who Will Outplay Their Draft Value 📈
Fisher is now three games into his tenure as the starting left tackle. He’s healthy and he’s had an offseason in an NFL training program. Based on the excuses many gave him last year, he should be significantly better, but the Chiefs are still waiting for him to take a much-needed developmental leap.
“We feel very good about him and how he handles things,” Reid said of Fisher via Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star. “He’s a good football player. But he’s young, and he’ll just keep getting better. He did a nice job [versus the Dolphins]. It doesn’t matter who you are or what position you play, you got to give the players a little time to grow.”
Reid obviously doesn’t want to call out his young left tackle’s poor play in the media, but the reality is he didn’t do a nice job against the Dolphins at all. If Fisher has improved at all this offseason, it’s been incremental at best.
If things don’t change soon, it won’t be long before even the most levelheaded fans start throwing around the dreaded B-word. It’s one thing to give a player time to grow, but there are only so many growing pains a team should be willing to tolerate.
Pass Protection
The Chiefs aren’t a team that are going to sling it deep with regularity, so they don't need their offensive line to pass protect for five seconds. Quarterback Alex Smith is mobile and content checking the ball down, but he’s prone to fumbling when the opposing team does corral him.
Since pass protection is still one of Fisher’s primary jobs, he needs to be proficient at the very least. So far this season, he is getting beat excessively for a starting left tackle in the NFL. The fact that Fisher is a former No. 1 overall selection in his second year makes his lapses in pass protection concerning.
The one thing Fisher has going for him is his quick feet and athleticism. He is light on his feet and can really move for a man his size. Fisher has no problem getting outside to block, but once he’s there, he has problems.
Here is Fisher dropping his head and lunging at a defender against the Miami Dolphins last week in pass protection. As you can see, the four other offensive linemen have a good base; their knees are bent and their eyes are up.
Fisher’s poor technique didn’t hurt the Chiefs on this play because the defenders were stunting and Smith was able to get the ball out quickly. Later in the game, Fisher wasn’t as lucky.
Here is Fisher bending at the waist and trying to reach out to block the defender with virtually no knee bend. Since Fisher is 6’7”, he’ll lose the leverage battle with most defenders if he doesn’t learn to bend at the knees and widen his base.
On this play in the fourth quarter against the Dolphins, Fisher was walked right back into Smith. Again, he’s bending at the waist and not his knees and he has a narrow base. The defender easily gets under Fisher’s pads and from there Fisher is simply along for the ride.
So far this season, only four of 60 offensive tackles have been worse than Fisher in pass protection according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required). Of those, only three have allowed more combined sacks, quarterback hits and pressures than Fisher’s 11. Although he hasn’t allowed a sack, he leads the league in quarterback hits.
Even if Fisher has improved his hand placement in pass protection, he’s not seeing positive results in the passing game due to his other flaws. Fisher needs to make corrections quickly, given he’s 17 games into his pro career. If Fisher doesn’t start developing soon, there may be reason to believe his pass-protection issues aren’t correctable.
Run Blocking
Fisher’s athletic ability comes in handy in the running game, especially since the Chiefs have made it a point to use a lot of movement on the offensive line to create running lanes. Fisher’s does have a tendency to lunge at defenders, but it doesn’t always hurt him if he squares up the defender.
Here is Fisher driving a defender back a few yards on a running play. The defender is eventually able to disengage from the block, but Fisher does a good job in this instance. It’s a good example of the type of success Fisher can achieve when he fires off low.
However, Fisher does struggle to stay engaged with defenders in the run game. Defenders often knock Fisher off balance, which usually results in him falling to the ground. This is due to Fisher’s hand placement and ability to use his long arms to keep defenders away from his body.
Fisher is easily able to get to the second level to block linebacker Philip Wheeler on this run play against the Dolphins, in which Wheeler got into his body and tossed him aside. Fisher outweighs Wheeler by at least 50 pounds, but Wheeler looks like the bigger man on this play. Wheeler also made the tackle and prevented what would likely have been a big run play.
With the Chiefs backed up against their own end zone last Sunday, Dolphins defensive end Olivier Vernon shoved Fisher into his own running back on a play off left guard. This is an example of what happens when Fisher lunges at an opponent and isn’t able to square him up. Fisher’s technique cost his team a solid gain on a play that the offensive line otherwise blocked well.
Fisher has actually been lucky his play hasn’t cost the Chiefs more than it has so far this season. On a 3rd-and-1 in the red zone, Fisher whiffed on his block, but the Chiefs were still able to convert. Fisher was fortunate the officials didn’t call holding on him after the defender blew past him and fullback Anthony Sherman, who gained enough yards for the first down.
At times, Fisher makes blocks that should give the Chiefs and their fans hope he can develop. On this run play to the outside, Fisher blocked defensive tackle Randy Starks long enough to give the Chiefs a numbers advantage on the outside. The Chiefs' other offensive linemen aren’t able to create a running lane in this case, but Fisher did his job against a veteran defensive tackle.
Fisher is at his best is on the move. On this play, Fisher pulled around to the right to kick out the defensive end and create a running lane for running back Knile Davis. The running lane was enough for a solid gain alone, but a mistake by the linebacker, poor tackling and some nice moves by Davis turned it into a touchdown.
Out of 60 offensive tackles who have played at least 60 percent of the time, Pro Football Focus has Fisher dead last in run blocking. Fisher will occasionally have good blocks, but the negatives have far outweighed the positives this season. The good blocks are just too few and far between so far this season.
Outlook
On Monday night, Fisher will go up against one of the best outside linebackers in the league in Chandler Jones of the New England Patriots. Jones had a monster game against Minnesota Vikings left tackle Matt Kalil in Week 2, a former first-round draft pick who is having similar struggles as Fisher.
| Chandler Jones | ROLB | 19.5 | 73 (18 games) | 8 |
| DeMarcus Ware | RDE | 119.5 | 48 (13 games) | 14 |
| Dwight Freeney | ROLB | 110 | 19 (4 games) | 16 |
| Khalil Mack | ROLB/RE | 0 | - | 6 |
| Robert Quinn | RE | 34.5 | 91 (16 games) | 8 |
| Jerry Hughes | ROLB | 16 | 59 (16 games) | 7 |
| Michael Bennett | RE | 26.5 | 79 (19 games) | 17 |
| Von Miller | SLB | 37 | 41 (9 games) | 15 |
| Cliff Avril | LE | 48.5 | 64 (19 games) | 13 |
| LaMarr Woodley | LOLB | 57 | 37 (11 games) | 4 |
| Chris Long | LE | 50.5 | 63 (16 games) | 2 |
The Chiefs also face a gauntlet of good right-edge defenders this season. The Chiefs will see DeMarcus Ware one more time, Dwight Freeney twice, talented rookie Khalil Mack twice, Robert Quinn, Jerry Hughes and Michael Bennett among others.
If Fisher doesn’t take a developmental leap soon, the Chiefs may consider using Donald Stephenson on the left side once he returns from a four-game suspension. The Chiefs could then drop Fisher or flip him back to the right side.
Fisher would still have to deal with the likes of Von Miller, Chris Long, LaMarr Woodley, Cliff Avril and some of the other aforementioned pass-rushers depending on the situation, so this solution isn’t a perfect one if he continues to struggle. If Fisher doesn’t make a leap soon, he probably shouldn’t be starting at all.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
.png?w=480)
