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The Las Vegas Raiders followed the best player available approach throughout the 2024 NFL Draft this past weekend and by doing so, general manager Tom Telesco nabbed players that fit what head coach Antonio Pierce wants from his football team.

One of those such prospects is linebacker Tommy Eichenberg.

Taken in the fifth round (No. 148 overall), the Ohio State defender exudes what Pierce wants out of a Raider. Eichenberg has the size — 6-foot-2 and 233 pounds — along with the collegiate production — 268 total tackles, 21 stops for loss, 3.5 sacks, and 2 interceptions — and the experience as a starting middle linebacker in a 4-2-5 nickel alignment that checks off major Silver & Black boxes.

But the biggest must-have that the 23-year-old defender has is his practice habits match what you see on the field and on tape. Eichenberg never goes half-speed and displays the same frenetic energy that made him a tackling machine in the Buckeye’s defense. Pierce talks fondly of “Maxx Crosby Energy”, the full speed all the time — in practice and games — and Eichenberg is exactly that.

By The Numbers: Tommy Eichenberg

The culture and production fit was too great for the Raiders to pass up — especially in the fifth round — as Eichenberg was earmarked as a third- or fourth-round talent depending on the ranking system used. The physicality, high motor, and true grit the Ohio native displayed during his tenure at Ohio State should translate very well to Las Vegas.

Which makes Eichenberg my favorite draft pick by the Silver & Black.

He has the demeanor and skillset to jump into the fray at middle linebacker for defensive coordinator Patrick Graham and provide depth behind Robert Spillane while immediately becoming a potential favorite by special teams coach Tom McMahon.

Round: 5️⃣ Pick: 1️⃣4️⃣8️⃣@OhioStateFB LB Tommy Eichenberg @Raiders #B1GFootball x #nfldraft pic.twitter.com/N0ZO5Ak39e

— Big Ten Football (@B1Gfootball) April 27, 2024

Defensive Fit

As the Mike linebacker in Jim Knowles 4-2-5 scheme at Ohio State, Eichenburg arrives to Las Vegas with knowledge and experience in a nickel formation. The Raiders ran more of that nickel formation under Graham this past season and don’t expect that to change.

Eichenberg’s film showcases an instinctive linebacker that attacks the line of scrimmage and stonewalls the run. He consistently gets his nose dirty by taking on offensive linemen and work well off blocks with powerful hands. A true seek-and-destroy type linebacker, Eichenburg takes great and uses his quickness and aggressiveness to fire at run stuffs. He’s a reliable wrap up tackler which something Las Vegas needs more of.

Dubbed the “quarterback of the defense” by Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day, Eichenberg’s ability to read and react will suit him well as a Raider.

While he may be a stout run defender, pass coverage is Eichenberg’s biggest area of opportunity. Unlike his aggressive nature when defending the run, the linebacker is very conservative in pass coverage and doesn’t appear as fluid one-on-one with pass catchers. His read and react while in coverage is delayed and not as quick when diagnosing the run.

Fortunately for Eichenberg, he’ll get a veteran to show him the ropes in that department in Spillane. While Eichenburg will not be mistaken for a fast chase-and-cover linebacker, he does have the ability to drop into zone coverage and read the eyes of the quarterback. Eichenberg will need to speed up the reaction time, however. He allowed a lot of catches in front of him, but his tackling ability limited yards after catch (YAC).

Special Teamer

Eichenberg’s frenetic energy and non-stop motor should make him an instant favorite for core special teams work. The Ohio State linebacker handled that kind of duty in college and McMahon’s special teams crew can use someone like Eichenberg.

In a game where field position can make the difference between scoring points and preventing the other team from end zone visits, a player like Eichenberg can ingratiate himself rather quickly. And the easiest way to make a 53-man roster is becoming a core special teamer.

That entails punt return, punt coverage, kickoff return, kickoff coverage, hands team and field goal and PAT. A player must be fast enough to sprint downfield when covering a kick. And be equally as quick when going up the field to block. A core special teamer must be both mentally and physically tough knowing at full speed they’ll engage with another player full speed and still must be able to make the tackle or block. Being a special teamer requires instincts to follow the kick while executing assignments and be elusive enough to avoid would-be blockers to make a play.

That all fits Eichenberg’s wheelhouse but he’ll need to prove he can do it at the pro level.

Rookie Outlook

Spillane and Divine Deablo are locked in the two starting linebackers in a nickel set and with Luke Masterson, that trio represents the likeliest starting three in a 4-3 alignment. Depth is still unsettled behind the starters, however, as Darien Butler, Kana’i Mauga, Amari Burney, and Eichenberg represent the seven total linebackers on the roster now.

Butler, Burney, Mauga, and Masterson will also likely compete for special teams snaps and Eichenberg will need to showcase he’s a better option that those four. But his nose for the ball and sure tackling will open eyes in camp.

The ceiling for Eichenberg is core special teamer with rotational snaps on defense his rookie year. Spillane and Deablo are slated to hit unrestricted free agency next offseason absent contract extensions, so 2025 may be the year for more defensive work for Eichenberg.

With the Las Vegas Raiders spending a second-round pick on tight end Michael Mayer during last year’s NFL Draft and then using a first-rounder on tight end Brock Bowers last week, naturally, the question arises of how both players can coexist in the offense.

It’s a completely rational inquiry to have, but while Mayer and Bowers play the same position, they have different skill sets that complement each other.

Here, we’ll take a look at several elements that tight ends are asked to do and touch on the different roles the Georgia and Notre Dame products can play in the Raiders’ offense moving forward.

Run Blocking

Run blocking is Mayer’s biggest competitive advantage over Bowers. The former is bigger, measuring in at 6-foot-4.5 and 249 pounds while the latter was 6-foot-3 and 243 pounds at the NFL Combine. Also, Mayer was likely trying to slim down to improve his speed for the event — the Raiders currently list him at 265 pounds — while Bowers needed to bulk up.

Additionally, the former Golden Domer earned an 82.1 run-blocking grade from Pro Football Focus during his final college season. While he struggled in this department at the beginning of his rookie year, he made significant steps toward the end of the campaign. Meanwhile, the former Bulldog posted a mark of 62.4 in 2023.

Also, this was one of the few knocks on Bowers as a prospect. Granted, he was an effective blocker in the ground game on crack tosses or pin-and-pull concepts, but that was when Georgia split him out wide rather than inline blocking.

Alignment

While Bowers is labeled as a tight end, he actually spent less than 50 percent of his total snaps last season lined up as a tight end — about 48.3 percent, per PFF. He was used in a variety of alignments, most notably spending roughly 37.9 percent of his time as a slot receiver and 9.2 percent outside.

Mayer was much more of a traditional tight end at Notre Dame, logging nearly 62 percent of his reps at that spot in 2022 with just 27.0 percent coming as a slot receiver. Granted, his usage outwide was similar to Bowers, about 8.4 percent.

In Las Vegas last season, the 2023 second-round pick saw his inline snaps go up to roughly 73.4 percent and slot snaps dip down to about 19.9 percent. So, in addition to standard two-tight end formations, this is one way offensive coordinator Luke Getsy can get both guys on the field at the same time since the rookie has plenty of experience as an inside receiver.

Also, for what it’s worth, Bowers took about four percent of his snaps in the backfield if Getsy wants to get even more creative and add a few wrinkles.

Route Tree

While run blocking is Mayer’s biggest competitive advantage over Bowers, the script flips when it comes to being a route runner. That’s not to say the former is bad by any means, but the latter runs routes more like a wide receiver than he does like a tight end. He’s faster and more explosive than his new counterpart, allowing him to be better at creating separation.

A good example of this is Bowers’ targets in Athens last season were spread out with 12.7 percent (nine targets) coming on deep routes, 25.4 percent (18) on medium routes, 22.5 percent (16) for the short area, and 39.4 percent (28) behind the line of scrimmage, per PFF. Mayer’s 2022 figures in college were 10.9 percent (11), 23.8 percent (24), 48.5 percent (49) and 16.8 percent (17) for the same respective categories.

An important piece of context to keep in mind for those numbers is Bowers only played in 10 games while Mayer participated in 12 which is why the volume stats might be a little head-scratching.

The biggest disparity between the two players is that Mayer is much more reliant on short targets as the numbers above show. That was the case even more during his rookie season as a whopping 67.6 percent (25) of his targets came zero to nine yards past the line of scrimmage.

So, the data and skill sets suggest the rookie can be used down the field more which could help open things up for the second-year pro underneath.

YAC

Comparing both players' yards after catch numbers leads to some interesting findings.

Bowers is elite with the ball in his hands as about 67.8 percent of his 717 receiving yards last season came after the catch, and he ranked seventh among FBS tight ends with 8.7 YAC per reception. Mayer’s numbers during his last year in college weren’t nearly as impressive — 40.2 percent and 4.9 YAC/rec — but those figures went up during his rookie season — 53.6 percent and 6.0 YAC/rec.

Ultimately, the incoming rookie is better but both tight ends are good after the catch, just in different ways. Bowers’ athleticism allows him to make defenders miss whereas Mayer uses his size and strength to be more of a bully after the catch. Granted, the Georgia product doesn’t go down easily, either.

Love the way Brock Bowers fights for every yard pic.twitter.com/BBHnO96ydp

— Matt Holder (@MHolder95) April 29, 2024

Contested Catches

Contested catches are another area where the size of the two players makes a big (no pun intended) difference. One of Mayer’s biggest strengths is coming down with 50/50 balls as he hauled in 17 of 26 (65.4 percent) contested targets in 2022 and was five for nine (55.6 percent) last year.

Meanwhile, Bowers is still learning how to use his body and position himself to win on those jump ball throws as he only had two contested catches on nine attempts last season (22.2 percent). Granted, he did have more success as a freshman and sophomore, but the film doesn’t suggest this will be a strength of his game at the next level.

As mentioned above, the former Bulldog is more of a separator while the former Golden Domer is better at high-pointing and coming down with passes in traffic.

Red Zone

This section kind of goes hand-in-hand with the one above, and CBS Sports showed that Mayer was elite in the red zone coming out of Notre Dame.

Dominant in the red zone, ranking first among qualifying 2022 tight ends in targets (21), catches (15), yards (153), yards per route run (3.73) and tackles avoided (five). Scored six times inside the 20 with his other three touchdowns coming from 22, 24 and 24 yards out.

That being said, Bowers wasn’t bad in this area but not in the caliber of Mayer as CBS laid out the numbers for the Georgia product.

In the red zone over his career Bowers caught 29 of 46 targets (63%) for 231 yards and 15 of his 26 touchdowns with two drops. That’s pretty good, but it’s worth pointing out that in 2023 he caught just half of his 16 targets in the red zone for 66 yards and three scores. Again, he was better here in the past.

One aspect of the rookie’s game that could throw this for a wrinkle is he was given the ball on handoffs or tosses in college and was an effective runner with a career average of 9.6 yards per carry and five rushing touchdowns on 19 attempts. Also, he can be used in the screen game with his ability to make defenders miss.

So, again, the Raiders can use Mayer on jump balls in the red zone while Bowers could be a good gadget player to keep defenses on their toes via jet sweeps and creative play-calling.

Davante Adams spent two seasons with Jordan Love in Green Bay, watching the quarterback study under Aaron Rodgers for an eventual Packers baton-passing. Seeing how much Love has grown since impresses the current Raiders receiver.

Joining the "The Rush" podcast with Maxx Crosby, Adams said he doesn't regret pushing for a trade to Las Vegas but he wonders about what it would be like to play with Love now.

"At the time when I was (in Green Bay), I hadn't necessarily seen enough to say this is for sure what I should do," Adams said of his decision to leave the Packers. "But in hindsight, like we talked about, the kid is a f------ baller, man. I'm so happy for him.

"I haven't really had a chance to truly sit down and talk with him, but I want to tell him at some point like, 'I definitely don't regret changing [teams], but I'm super proud of what you've done. If there's a way I could pull you over here [to Las Vegas] and drag you with me like that, that would've been cool, too.'

"Obviously, we saw what he did at the end of the year. I don't regret what I did, but, at the same time, it's definitely you look back on it like, 'damn, that boy kind of balling right now.'"

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At the time of Adams' trade to the Raiders, Rodgers was still entrenched as the starter, coming off back-to-back NFL MVPs. The star wideout pushed for a trade and new contract in Vegas, joining with former college teammate Derek Carr. That reunion didn't last long, as Carr was eventually benched at the end of 2022 and released.

Adams played alongside Jimmy Garoppolo and Aidan O'Connell last season. With the Raiders shut out of the first-round quarterbacks in last week's draft, O'Connell and Gardner Minshew will battle to toss passes to Adams and the rest of a good receiver corps in Vegas.

Given that backdrop, it's easy to understand why Adams might pine for a quarterback who has shown the ability to lift his club into the postseason.

The 31-year-old wideout believes Love has already shown he can be the "next one" in Green Bay.

"I think he is. I think he has shown that," Adams said. "He is starting to come into his own. You can see the way he is talking in front of media and everything. It's like a whole different person than what I saw when I was there. That comes with experience."

In what feels like it should be a Western Conference Final matchup, the Dallas Stars will take on the Vegas Golden Knights in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The two bona fide contenders will begin what should be an epic battle on Monday, April 22.

The Stars were one of the NHL's best teams from wire to wire. They have star power, and they have depth. Eight players reached the 20-goal mark, including the lethal trio of Jason Robertson, Roope Hintz and Joe Pavelski. On the back end, stalwart defenseman Miro Heiskanen leads a strong group that also consists of veteran Chis Tanev and budding star Thomas Harley. In net, Jake Oettinger seemed to find his elite form late in the regular season, and that spells trouble for the rest of the playoff field. The Stars are the favorite to emerge from the West for a reason.

As a reward for finishing atop the conference in the regular season, Dallas will get the defending Stanley Cup champions. The Golden Knights had an inconsistent regular season, which was affected by injuries, but now they are getting back to full health at the right time of year. Trade deadline addition Tomas Hertl recently made his debut, and captain Mark Stone is practicing after missing extended time with a lacerated spleen. Everyone knows what Vegas can do when it's at full strength, so this team is not your typical No. 8 seed.

As the Stars and Golden Knights get ready for a rematch of last season's conference final, here is the complete first-round schedule.

Game 1: Monday, April 22 | 9:30 p.m. | at DAL | ESPNGame 2: Wednesday, April 24 | 9:30 p.m. | at DAL | ESPNGame 3: Saturday, April 27 | 10:30 p.m. | at VGK | TBS, truTVGame 4: Monday, April 29 | TBD | at VGK | TBD*Game 5: Wednesday, May 1 | TBD | at DAL | TBD*Game 6: Friday, May 3 | TBD | at VGK | TBD*Game 7: Sunday, May 5 | TBD | at DAL | TBD

*if necessary

The Stars’ third straight win gave them a 3-2 lead in the best-of-7 series. They can close it out in Game 6 at Vegas on Friday (10 p.m. ET; SCRIPPS, MAX, TNT, BSSW, SN360, SN, TVAS).

“Knowing how we’ve been over the years as far as losing streaks, as far as the character in this room, we didn’t feel like we were going to lose three in a row. We just wanted to start with one and go from there,” Dallas forward Tyler Seguin said. “Our intent is to try to [win] the next one.”

It was the first victory by a home team in the series.

Wyatt Johnston had two assists, and Jake Oettinger made 25 saves for the Stars, who are the No. 1 seed from the Central Division.

“I think the resilience, obviously being down 2-0 is not the spot you want to be in going into Vegas (for Game 3),” Johnston said. “Still got a lot of work to do. Getting the job done will be the toughest, but I think it’s been great how we’ve been able to battle back.”

Mark Stone and William Carrier scored, and Adin Hill made 22 saves in his first start of the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the Golden Knights. The defending Stanley Cup champions are the second wild card from the West.

“I still think these last two games we were right there in the second period late again,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. “Got away from us for puck management and discipline and allowed them to get going. We’re the defending Stanley Cup champions. There’s lots of resolve in that room, lots of winners in that room, lot of pride in that room. We have to go home and win one game at home in the playoffs. That’s something we’re certainly capable of. Will it happen? Dallas will have a lot of say in that. It’s not this obstacle that we can’t do.”