Notre Dame Football: Orlando Brown being traded affects Liam Eichenberg

The Kansas City Chiefs traded for Orlando Brown on Friday, and it will affect the draft selection of Notre Dame football star Liam Eichenberg.

On Friday afternoon, Adam Schefter broke the news that the Baltimore Ravens had traded offensive tackle Orlando Brown, a 2021 second-round pick, and 2022 6th round pick to the Kansas City Chiefs in exchange for a 2021 first-round pick, third-round pick, fourth-round pick, and a 2022 fifth-round pick. While the trade may not seem like it on the surface, it affects this Notre Dame Football program.

The move reinforces Kansas City’s efforts to bolster their offensive line after the disaster that was Super Bowl LV, where Patrick Mahomes was under duress and ran for his life the entire night.

In mid-March, the Chiefs added one of the most sought-after free agent offensive lineman in Joe Thuney. This move added a Pro-Bowl caliber player to their front five and one that has only allowed 7.5 sacks in five seasons. Now, with the addition of Orlando Brown, they have turned one of their biggest weaknesses into potentially a huge strength in a matter of a few months.

With this move, there are a few domino effects we’ll see come draft night in less than a week. With Kansas City shipping off their first-round pick, it could impact the landing spots of a handful of players, including Notre Dame’s Liam Eichenberg.

Notre Dame football star could fall out of the first round

Eichenberg has seen his draft stock rise and fall slightly over the course of the NFL Draft process. While he has been consistently rated as a Top-50 prospect and Top-10 tackle in this year’s Draft, it seems as if his first-round stock has slipped over the last few months.

Many mocks originally had Eichenberg going in the first round to Kansas City with the 31st pick, which obviously cannot happen now. While the draft ceiling for Eichenberg is the latter half of the first round, with this trade by Kansas City, it’s more likely that he will slip to the early-to-mid second round.

With so many teams needing a tackle, it ultimately comes down to preference which will determine how early in the second round he goes. Although Eichenberg is ranked as the No.10 tackle in the draft according to PFF, he could very easily by the 4th or 5th tackle taken.

I would not be surprised if Eichenberg ends up on the Bengals, Panthers, Broncos, Lions, or Cowboys with their second-round selections.

If Cincinnati ultimately takes Ja’Marr Chase out of LSU with the No. 5 overall pick, Eichenberg could make a lot of sense for their round two pick as he is from Ohio and fits the mold of a tough-nosed, Midwestern tackle that could play opposite of Jonah Williams.

Either way, expect Eichenberg to come off the board early on day two if he falls out of the first round and continue the #OLU tradition of Notre Dame football.