Notre Dame football: Blake Fisher takes the baton from Liam Eichenberg
By Brad Weiss
The Notre Dame football team is losing a start in Liam Eichenberg, but Blake Fisher is ready to take the baton at the left tackle spot.
During his time as the starting left tackle for the Notre Dame football program, Liam Eichenberg became one of the more dominant offensive tackles in the country. Across a two-year span, Eichenberg did not allow Ian Book to be touched, and we saw what a dominant left tackle can do in terms of the offensive side of the ball.
All Book would go on to do is become the all-time winningest quarterback in school history, and for Eichenberg, he would become an All-American. The first member of the Irish to be selected in the 2021 NFL Draft, going in the second round to the Miami Dolphins, Eichenberg will now try to carve out a career in South Beach after doing so in South Bend.
With him leaving, the Irish now have a big hole along their offensive line at left tackle, one that could be filled by a true freshman. That player is Blake Fisher, who has stepped on campus and looked nothing like a first-year player and is currently in a position to start at left tackle from Day 1.
Notre Dame football revamps the entire starting offensive line
Fisher is not going to be the only new face along this Irish offensive line, as four starters from last year’s team have now gone on to the NFL. Eichenberg and Aaron Banks were both second-round picks, with Banks landing in San Francisco, while Robert Hainsey was a fourth-round pick of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Tommy Kraemer may not have been selected across the three-day event, but he was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Detroit Lions. Getting all four new starters to gel will be paramount for this offense, and the only returning starter, Jarrett Patterson, is moving from center to offensive guard.
While every spot is important, left tackle is the most, and Fisher is ready to take the baton from Eichenberg.
Fisher is a special talent, and he will be tested early on, as the Florida State Seminoles have some players who can really get after the quarterback. Outside of the quarterback spot, the left tackle is the most important position on that side of the ball, and if Fisher is as good as advertised, the Irish are set at the position for the foreseeable future.