Eric Fisher

[Chiefs4life24]

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Chiefs' Eric Fisher is becoming a good left tackle, and we should start to accept that

By MNchiefsfan  @RealMNchiefsfan on Nov 4, 2015, 1:09p 340

Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

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Eric Fisher is good at left tackle.
It's OK to think it. It's OK to say it. It's even OK to sing it, though I'm not sure why you would (unless you're one of those people who walks around singing stuff. Which, to be fair, I totally do. Drives my wife insane).
Fisher, as recently as earlier this season, was a bust. He'd lost his LT position due to poor play and was on the verge of being benched. None of what I just wrote is true, but it was the narrative nationally and even among many Chiefs fans. If you were to browse through the comments here, or take a quick trip through Chiefs Twitter (a dangerous place for any player, to be sure), you'd come away with the conclusion that Fisher is an awful player.
That hasn't been true for quite some time, but there's no need to talk about the past. Instead, let's talk about the here and now. Because in the here and now, Fisher has been playing solid football since the moment the season started.
I've already graded individual games by Fisher this season using the wins / losses / neutrals style of evaluation (here and here, if you're interested), and we'll do that again today. But it's time we start looking at this from a bigger overall perspective. Multiple solid games in a row generally means a solid football player, no?
The Chiefs offensive line has gone through so much turmoil this year that Fisher has been lost in the shuffle. When he was demoted to RT a lot of people assumed it was because Fisher was bad. It was the easy, simple analysis. Reid's explanation that Fisher can play anywhere andDonald Stephenson didn't fit at RT was brushed aside by most. It's now pretty apparent that Reid actually meant what he said (a rarity from a coach, to be sure).
Let's go through Fishers numbers against the Lions.
If this is a first for you, the analysis is as follows; I re-watch the game on all-22 (Madden camera view is good for OL judging), and chart each snap as a win, a loss, or a neutral. A win is Fisher clearly holding off a rusher, or clearly paving the way or walling off a defender in the run game. A loss is Fisher getting beaten one-on-one. A neutral either means he didn't have much to do on the play (say, a quick WR screen to the other side of the field) or didn't really win OR lose convincingly. I lean toward grading tough to avoid homerism as much as possible.
I've recently added "loss percentage" and "win percentage" as part of what I track. It's worth noting how often a guy is outright winning his assignments as opposed to neutral plays. This helps distinguish decent performances (which are indicated by a low loss percentage) from really good performances. I've always considered 10% to be the tipping point for loss percentage. Any more than that and I start asking questions. Less than that I can live with.
Here's Fisher against the Lions.

Pass Block Win	Pass Block Loss	Run Block Win	Run Block Loss	Neutral	Win Percentage	Loss Percentage
21	2	19	2	20	62.50%	6.25%

If you can't tell based on the numbers there, Fisher had a solid game against the Lions. His loss percentage was the lowest full game I've charted since starting to use this method, and his win percentage was the highest.
There were plenty of snaps where Fisher's pass protection looked like like this (you're going to be distracted watching this GIF. Fair warning. Try and focus on Fisher)
The first few times I watched that play I too was distracted by Alex Smith getting HAMMERED by a free blitzer. However, once I'd seen it enough times my attention was drawn to Fisher. His guy goes absolutely nowhere. That's a textbook win for an offensive lineman, and a very decisive one.
Now, not all of Fisher's wins were quite THAT impressive, but he spent the vast majority of the day keeping rushers well away from Alex Smith. As I've talked about previously this season, Fisher's strength has improved this season. In previous years he simply wasn't able to hold up against bull rushes, his lanky (and athletic) frame betraying him against 300-pound behemoths.
This season, he's still not a powerhouse against bull rushes, but he's markedly better at re-anchoring after losing some ground initially. He also has shown a little more power in his initial punch. Again, he's still not strong in a dominant way like, say, Wille Roaf was. But he's developed to the point that his power is no longer a weakness. And with his exceptional athleticism average power is enough to win the majority of the time.
The biggest area Fisher has shown growth, though is as a run blocker. There's a reason the Chiefs have had significant success running the ball the last two weeks despite losing all-universe Jamaal Charles. Swapping out Stephenson (who'd been a disaster run blocking) for Fisher has been about as drastic an upgrade as you can get in the run game. Having Jeff Allen has been a big deal too, but Fisher has been fantastic in that area.
Want proof? Watch Charcandrick West's touchdown run.
Watch Fisher just drive his defender all the way across the hole and completely out of the play. That's some bouncer-level escorting going on. The rest of the line did a good job, and West's cutting ability and vision are solid (what a find he's been). But Fisher's block is the most impressive part of this play. And he made multiple blocks exactly like that on Sunday.
So in short, Eric Fisher has (by all appearances) developed into an exceptional run blocker and good pass protector. He's well-rounded and seems to be continuing to improve. But the time for "he's getting better but has a long way to go" has ended. So has the time of any logical discussion of him being a bust, or a bad player.
Eric Fisher is a good left tackle, and is currently the best offensive lineman the Chiefs have. Let it roll off your tongue a few times. It gets easier to say as time goes by.
I'll let Big Fish (he's earned the nickname) and his new partner in a bullish run game Jeff Allen play us out.

[brdempsey69]

Anybody who watched Fisher closely in 2014 would know that he had room for improvement (and still does), but he wasn't a bust. Anyone who possesses any football knowledge should know that not all high draft picks make an instant splash and that some need some seasoning and time to develop. I can provide a very good example of this using two players that played the same position and were drafted in the early '60's, that are both in the HOF.

This first guy in the pic below did make an instant splash and was a Pro-Bowler from his 1st season on & for 13 seasons afterwards;

DT Merlin Olsen

merlinolsen.jpg


This guy in the pic below was NOT an instant star and took time to develop:

DT Bob Lilly

bob_lilly.jpg

I remember reading that Lilly in his first couple of seasons was regarded as being clumsy and looking like he needed somebody to teach him how to walk around without falling down and hurting himself. But, the Cowboys were wisely patient with him and let Lilly mature and develop and by the mid-60's, Lilly was every bit of Merlin Olsen's equal.

The Chiefs very own great DT, Buck Buchanan, also took some time to develop and he was the other Chiefs #1 overall pick in 1963 (with Fisher being only the 2nd #1 overall pick ever by KC).

I had already pointed out that in 2014, Fisher had played better in his 2nd NFL season, than what Branden Albert had in his 2nd NFL season in 2009. That's the correct apples=to-apples comparison, and it's not an opinion, it's a stark reality.

Let's not kid ourselves, there was, and still is, a large cabal of individuals that call themselves Chiefs fans that wish for Fisher to be a failure, and that's because they were butthurt about Fisher being drafted #1 overall & Albert getting shown the door. Got news for them -- thus far it doesn't look like Fisher is going to comply with their wish.

[ctchiefsfan]

Bob Lilly....haven't heard that name in a good long while. That goes back to when you could respect the Cowboys even if you didn't like them. Thanks for bringing back some memories.

Fisher is turning into a good LT. As you said he would. He might, maybe even become a great LT....though he is not there yet. He has had a rough 2 1/2 years in the NFL. Injuries, position moves and just adjusting to a very different game than the college game.

But right now he is a fine rush blocker and a fair to middling pass blocker. Give him another years experience plus a decent LG and he may start to look a whole lot better than "fair to middling".

The move to RT was much debated. And I could care less why it was done. But since he went back to LT he has been looking pretty good. 2 weak opponents? Improved motivation? Moved back to LT? I dunno. But I surely DO KNOW that I have liked what I have seen since he went back to LT.

Fisher still has plenty to prove for a #1 overall pick, but at this point he is starting to look like he just might maybe begin to live up to his draft status.

[brdempsey69]

^^^ctchiefsfan, I'm sure you remember this guy in the pic below that was probably the meanest and dirtiest O-Lineman to ever play & he wasn't an instant star either, but took time to develop.

Conrad Dobler

conraddobler.jpg

The Chiefs need everybody on their O-Line to have Dobler's mean streak, but without Dobler's dirty tactics, unless of course it becomes necessary (which it could against certain upcoming opponents) & it was good to see Fisher show signs of Dobler's mean streak in that Pittsburgh game.

[Eydugstr]

We should've just left Fisher at LT to begin with. Everybody bit into the idea that Stephenson needed a shot at LT, low and behold we got our wish. It might not have changed those five L's to W's but think it would've reduced the number of sacks, not to mention wear and tear on the QB.

[brdempsey69]

We should've just left Fisher at LT to begin with. Everybody bit into the idea that Stephenson needed a shot at LT, low and behold we got our wish. It might not have changed those five L's to W's but think it would've reduced the number of sacks, not to mention wear and tear on the QB.

I never bought into the idea that Stephenson was a better player than Fisher, as Stephenson had never shown any such thing at any time.

That's true that it may not have reduced those L's, but certainly Fisher being moved back to LT, along with Jeff Allen's entry into the starting lineup, has had a HUGE impact, and the O-Line looks primed to put up a better fight through the 2nd half of the season than they did in the 1st half. Time will tell, of course.

[Eydugstr]

I never bought into the idea that Stephenson was a better player than Fisher, as Stephenson had never shown any such thing at any time.

That's true that it may not have reduced those L's, but certainly Fisher being moved back to LT, along with Jeff Allen's entry into the starting lineup, has had a HUGE impact, and the O-Line looks primed to put up a better fight through the 2nd half of the season than they did in the 1st half. Time will tell, of course.

My hope is that the "O-line musical chair" experiment is OVER. Barring injury, just leave Fisher at LT.

[Frankenchief]

We should've just left Fisher at LT to begin with.

Those of us who kept screaming for that from day 1 concur. :)

[Almighty chief]

is it me or did the oline play better without grubbs

[ctchiefsfan]

is it me or did the oline play better without grubbs

Smelled that way to me, but that may have had something to do with who we were playing. It is equally possible that Grubbs is simply washed up.