Chiefs Film Room: Eric Fisher belongs at left tackle

As we head into the fourth season of the Reid/Dorsey era, it’s safe to say this brain trust has done remarkable work for the Kansas City Chiefs. Dorsey deserves a ton of credit for crafting a roster that ranks among the very best in the AFC, and there aren’t too many coaches who do a better job of squeezing every iota of talent from his players than Reid.

But for all the progress that has been made since 2013, the continued instability of the offensive line is one of few blemishes on their record.

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Flux is once again shaping up to be theme in 2016 for the Chiefs offensive line. Significant contributors Jeff Allen, and to a lesser extent, Donald Stephenson, are hitting the market. Ben Grubbs will be looking to bounce back from a neck injury, which is concerning to say the least. Then you have guys like Jah Reid and Zach Fulton who bounced across the line all of 2015 without finding a permanent home. Four years in, and this line is still far from settled.

There was, however, one position which was settled in the 2015 season: Eric Fisher should be the left tackle going forward. That may not be a popular sentiment amongst Chiefs Kingdom, but he’s made considerable strides since his underwhelming rookie season. I noticed it, and I guarantee Alex Smith noticed it, when Fisher reassumed blindside protection duty midway through this season.

In my evaluation of Fisher, I used a sample size of four games (post left tackle transition). The opponents were a group of teams that possessed either good team pass rush or individual studs:

Week 10 at Denver
Week 17 vs. Oakland
Wild Card at Houston
Divisional at New England

After watching every offensive snap from these four games, I have no qualms with Fisher manning the left side for the foreseeable future. Now, by no means am I saying he should be mentioned alongside the likes of Tyron Smith or Joe Thomas as elite blindside protectors, far from it. But the perception that he’s a bust and needs to be replaced is irrational at best.

In the snaps I watched, Fisher showed: the ability to generate push in the run game, solid athleticism, and effective pass protection. There is however, a caveat to the latter point – Fisher tended to struggle with rushers that possessed great speed off the edge (think Von Miller and Khalil Mack). These struggles highlighted his need to improve his kick-step and the ability to anchor himself once engaged.

But before we get areas that need development, let’s start with the positives, shall we?

Ground Game Strength

It’s pretty much impossible to talk about Fisher’s game without talking about his strength. While he still has work to do (as do most young players), Fisher has noticeably developed this area and it shows in his run blocking.

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Fisher does an impressive job here of driving his defender completely out of the play. But his improved strength is not the sole reason he has become a solid run-blocker – it’s also his hand placement. Notice how Fisher gets his hands pretty much on the chest of the defender, rather than near the shoulders, which allows him to steer the defender wherever he wants.

In his first two seasons, Fisher lacked both the technique with his hands and the strength to hold his own against NFL defenders. But if the play above is any indication, Fisher is the type of guy who has no reservations on putting in the time to improve his craft. And it paid dividends in 2015, as he was a big reason for the consistency of the ground game.

Pass Blocking Proficiency

Showing effective pass blocking isn’t particularly exciting. There’s nothing flashy or spectacular when a tackle holds off a pass rusher. But as you know, with offensive line play boring is good.

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This is textbook blocking by Fisher on Mercilus. As the ball is snapped, Fisher’s first step, while not very powerful, quickly closes the gap between the rusher and himself. Next, notice how Fisher doesn’t lunge to get his hands on Mercilus. He keeps his center of gravity and waits until Mercilus is in range to deliver a punch/slight head-butt to stop him in his tracks. As Mercilus attempts to disengage, Fisher does a fantastic job of moving his feet to stay square to the rusher.

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A similar situation happens here with Chandler Jones and Fisher’s footwork allows him to stay square with Jones until he’s able to engage him. Fisher, once again, does a good job of staying patient and waiting for the defender to get in range before engaging.

While Fisher has slight troubles with anchoring himself when engaged (something I’ll touch on soon), he showed that he’s capable of delivering solid protection game in and game out. Letting him continue to develop his pass block skills on the left side is undoubtedly the prudent move for Dorsey and Reid.

Work Still To Be Done

There are a couple things Eric Fisher must improve on if he wants to take his game to the next level. The first is his ability to consistently anchor himself when pass blocking. We saw a glimpse of this in the Chandler Jones GIF above, even though it didn’t negatively impact the play. But there were times where it was a little more pronounced and adversely affected Alex Smith in the pocket.

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At no point does Fisher get his feet set and stop the linebacker’s forward momentum. On top of that, look where Fisher’s hands are and how high his pad level is relative to the defender when he’s getting driven back.

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Fisher’s hands are on the outside of the defender’s frame and his pad level is higher than the defender’s. Both these technique flaws prevent Fisher from gaining any leverage whatsoever. These technique inconsistencies occurred in each game, and while they were infrequent, the play above shows just how damaging they are to the offense.

Finally, the area which Fisher has to improve the most, especially given the division we play in, is his ability to deal with speed rushers.

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The biggest reason for his struggles against guys like Von Miller is his kick-step off the snap.

When you watch that play, notice how little depth Fisher gets with his first step; all his movement is lateral off the snap. When defending the likes of Mercilus and Chandler Jones, it’s not something that stands out since those guys don’t possess elite speed off the edge. But against Von Miller, the lack of power generated by his kick-step gets exploited.

Fisher is never able to get square to Miller, giving up outside leverage the entire time. Miller’s speed allows him to utilize that outside leverage to force Smith off the spot and scramble for a short gain. Against a guy like that, Fisher’s first step would, ideally, cut off the outside angle the pass rusher has to the quarterback. But after just one step, Fisher is forced into complete scramble mode in order to prevent a big hit.

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Pretty much everything stated above is applicable on this play against Watt: first step gives Fisher no depth so he is unable to cut off the angle, and the rusher takes advantage with speed around the outside to force the quarterback into a sack. Developing a powerful kick-step must be priority number one for Fisher this offseason.

Overall, Eric Fisher’s improvement from year one to year three has been incredibly positive. He’s shown a willingness to address his deficiencies and that in turn, has translated into him becoming the most reliable offensive lineman on this roster. There is little doubt in my mind that Fisher is far from done progressing, and I have no reservations in saying that left tackle should not be a worry for the Chiefs going forward.

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