Raiders Select LB Tommy Eichenberg With No. 148 Pick in 2024 NFL Draft

The Las Vegas Raiders have selected former Ohio State LB Tommy Eichenberg with the 148th pick of the 2024 NFL Draft.

Nov 4, 2023; Piscataway, New Jersey, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes linebacker Tommy Eichenberg (35) lines / Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA

With their fifth-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, the Las Vegas Raiders have selected linebacker Tommy Eichenberg out of Ohio State.

Eichenberg was one of the best linebackers in college football over the past couple of seasons and will add valuable depth to a very talented linebacker room.

The 6-foot-2, 233-pound linebacker earned the 2023 Big Ten Linebacker of the Year award and was named an All-Big Ten First Team selection despite missing three games with an arm injury. He was also named to the Sports Illustrated, Football Writers Association of America and Phil Steele All-America second teams.

Eichenberg started 10 games for the Buckeyes last season, totaling 82 tackles, 2.5 for loss and a sack, helping lead Ohio State to an 11-2 finish last season, including an 8-1 record in the Big Ten.

The prospect was also named to the 2022 All-Big Ten First Team and 2022 Walter Camp, CBS Sports, Football Writers Association of America, Associated Press and The Sporting News All-America second teams.

Pro Football Focus gave Eichenberg an overall grade of 61.5 for his 2023 season and a 86.8 grade for his 2022 campaign.

While talking with Eichenberg at this year's NFL Combine, he told us what it would mean to potentially play for Raiders coach Antonio Pierce.

"I haven't met with him yet, but from what I've seen, he's a really, really good dude," Eichenberg said. "I mean, he was a great linebacker, too. And I think linebackers as head coaches is awesome, and that's just another example of a guy that's like -- he's a football dude, and I feel like you always want to play for guys like that."

Eichenberg recorded a 32.5-inch vertical jump, a 9-feet-8-inch broad jump and a 20-yard-shuttle time of 4.24 seconds at the combine.

NFL Next Gen Stats gave Eichenberg a production score of 70, an athleticism score of 68 and a total score of 70.

The following is NFL analyst Lance Zierlein's evaluation of Eichenberg:

"Eichenberg is passionate and tough with the desired mindset of an inside linebacker. While he plays with good physicality at the point of attack, he’s more of a fit-and-fill linebacker than one who will make plays and disrupt what the offense is trying to do in the run game. He’s a straight-line mover lacking ideal bend, speed and agility for open-field tackling and coverage duties. The production looks great but it might not translate into a long-term NFL run."

Ensure you follow on X (Twitter) @HondoCarpenter and IG @HondoSr and never miss another breaking news story again.

Please let us know your thoughts when you like our Facebook page WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE.