The Eich Factor

[zullo1]

By my count Grier has made 69 draft selections during his tenure.

5 Guards
0 Centers

13.8% of draft selections for an entire position group. One of the most important being Center.

There's also the fact the positions he has selected he has been pretty bad at. All busts except Hunt and obviously Eich who's on the brink. 2 round 2's, 1 round 3, 1 round 4, 1 round 5.

Then there is his word for it:

"You guys you probably are more worried than we are" about depth on offensive line and tight end. "It doesn't end with the draft, still guys we're talking to in free agency."​

Sad.

 

[MrClean]

Eich was our backup center all year from camp on, he had taken snaps in practice the whole time. He's never played right guard before either, so there's that...

Rock solid based on what exactly? Hope? All signs and stats point toward the opposite.

Admire your guys' faith, but even Jackson flashed before he became solid. Eich hasn't shown any flashes at any position, it's a lost cause IMO. He's starting because Grier just doesn't want to invest draft capital in IOL, pure and simple.

Yes he has.

 

[kcbrown]

Such slow and bad footwork

How did he/this get by the scouts and drafting "experts"?

He needs to rent a room at Armstead's house and train daily to step his game up.

I was also going to suggest lose 10 lbs as he looks sluggish, but I googled him and the guy only weighs 306 lbs.

Feet of stone.

 

[Mr Fan]

Scenario:
1. You are an apprentice brick layer in the construction industry. After your apprenticeship ends you are hired part time by a construction company with a new Foreman. Your first building season isnt easy with limited action, but you are "paying your dues getting experience.

2. The next season you have a new Foreman who asks you to do concrete work. Its new to you but you happily agree. Its not easy and you make some mistakes but you learn and by seasons end realize your work is pretty good for a novice.

3. The next season, yet another new Foreman, allows you to continue as a concrete worker. Then suddenly, the framer next to you gets hurt and you are asked to be the Framing expert for the entire project. You have no experience framing, but you accept this and try your best. Learning as you go.

This has been Eich's experience as a Dolphin! I realize that Eich has become the latest polarizing lightening rod of opinions on FH, but I don't think he deserves the **** that many toss at him given the circumstances. And I do think he can be a quality G if given some stability.

He is a functional guard right now that should continue to get better. He has been moved so much and has had some terrible coaching, last year was the first year he had a real coach since Notre Dame (even then the Notre Coach should have fixed the arm extension issue). He looked pretty solid at guard, he doesn't play center well.

Physical limitations, he has T-Rex arms and the way he uses them makes it worse.

He lets people into his body (which for two years with the Dolphins staff made worse due to the stupid Cable technique they were using), he lunges because his feet slow down, his feet need to be quicker due to that arm length. Because of these arms and feet his hand placement becomes more important. When he keeps his feet moving, his arms out and the defender out of his chest he actually not bad in fact pretty good.

That is a coachable and solvable problem, he has enough of the tools to be a decent if not good player on the line.

 

[TXFinFan]

Would you care to wager a $100 donation to FH based on his performance? We can let Ray or Fever set the criteria.

I would be happy to take that bet. If Eich is on the roster opening day of 2025 training camp, that would be the only real criteria that would matter. That means regardless of PFF stats or the eyeball test, the team sees enough value in him to re-sign him.

 

[Fineas]

Eich was our backup center all year from camp on, he had taken snaps in practice the whole time. He's never played right guard before either, so there's that...

Rock solid based on what exactly? Hope? All signs and stats point toward the opposite.

Admire your guys' faith, but even Jackson flashed before he became solid. Eich hasn't shown any flashes at any position, it's a lost cause IMO. He's starting because Grier just doesn't want to invest draft capital in IOL, pure and simple.

No, Eich was not the backup center from camp on. The Dolphins signed Feeney on March 17 to be the backup OC and traded him on August 29, after the last preseason game. Eich didn't take a single snap at OC in the preseason last year or in any previous year. Nor was he even the 3rd string OC, as Uluave took most of the OC snaps in the preseason and that almost certainly means he was taking most of the 3rd string OC snaps in training camp and practices. He also never took a snap at OC in college and there's no indication he ever practiced there.

 

[JamesWsenior]

Can I borrow Eich to help finish building my house?

Then again maybe not. Lol

 

[1972forever]

I just read on MSN that the Dolphins are interested in Dalton Risner. He doesn’t seem to be looking for a lot of money since he played for $3 million last year.

He obviously isn’t a pro bowl level guard but if he does sign, he could end up being the best guard on the team.

Right now it appears to just be speculation he might end up in Miami but considering the need at guard and the limited veterans available at this time, signing Risner does seem to make a lot of sense if the money’s right.

 

[PCmor]

Interesting analogy. Hopefully, Eich will master one of the jobs asked of him and master it. Not sure which of those jobs that is….

Pretty obvious to me the OP wants Eich to leave football and to go into construction instead.

 

[MARINO1384]

I just read on MSN that the Dolphins are interested in Dalton Risner. He doesn’t seem to be looking for a lot of money since he played for $3 million last year.

He obviously isn’t a pro bowl level guard but if he does sign, he could end up being the best guard on the team.

Right now it appears to just be speculation he might end up in Miami but considering the need at guard and the limited veterans available at this time, signing Risner does seem to make a lot of sense if the money’s right.

He sucks. Would be better off sticking with Wynn and Eich at LG. Van Roten is the only fa worth a contract but he plays rg.

 

[Tuaffinity and Beyond]

No, Eich was not the backup center from camp on. The Dolphins signed Feeney on March 17 to be the backup OC and traded him on August 29, after the last preseason game. Eich didn't take a single snap at OC in the preseason last year or in any previous year. Nor was he even the 3rd string OC, as Uluave took most of the OC snaps in the preseason and that almost certainly means he was taking most of the 3rd string OC snaps in training camp and practices. He also never took a snap at OC in college and there's no indication he ever practiced there.

Didn’t Feeney suffer a season ending injury?

 

[1972forever]

He sucks. Would be better off sticking with Wynn and Eich at LG. Van Roten is the only fa worth a contract but he plays rg.

I’ll admit I don’t know much about him. Yet in 745 snaps last year with the Vikings he gave up zero sacks.

The fact he hasn’t signed anywhere yet obviously shows that teams aren’t jumping up and down to sign him. Perhaps if he is cheap he might only end up being a back up but they do need to sign another guard before training camp starts. I agree Van Roten would be the better player, I just don’t know if they have the money to sign him at this time.

Maybe after June 1st they could try and sign Van Roten if he is still unsigned.

 

[Fineas]

Didn’t Feeney suffer a season ending injury?

Not with the Dolphins. Looks like he ended up on the Bears injury report in October but I don't see anything to suggest it was season-ending.

 

[Ray R]

He is a functional guard right now that should continue to get better. He has been moved so much and has had some terrible coaching, last year was the first year he had a real coach since Notre Dame (even then the Notre Coach should have fixed the arm extension issue). He looked pretty solid at guard, he doesn't play center well.

Physical limitations, he has T-Rex arms and the way he uses them makes it worse.

He lets people into his body (which for two years with the Dolphins staff made worse due to the stupid Cable technique they were using), he lunges because his feet slow down, his feet need to be quicker due to that arm length. Because of these arms and feet his hand placement becomes more important. When he keeps his feet moving, his arms out and the defender out of his chest he actually not bad in fact pretty good.

That is a coachable and solvable problem, he has enough of the tools to be a decent if not good player on the line.

Better the devil you know.
You get the picture. - LOL

 

[E30M3]

No, Eich was not the backup center from camp on. The Dolphins signed Feeney on March 17 to be the backup OC and traded him on August 29, after the last preseason game. Eich didn't take a single snap at OC in the preseason last year or in any previous year. Nor was he even the 3rd string OC, as Uluave took most of the OC snaps in the preseason and that almost certainly means he was taking most of the 3rd string OC snaps in training camp and practices. He also never took a snap at OC in college and there's no indication he ever practiced there.

Ok.