Chiefs’ Eric Fisher determined to bounce back after miserable half at Philadelphia
 

Chiefs’ Eric Fisher determined to bounce back after miserable half at Philadelphia
By TEREZ A. PAYLOR
The Kansas City Star
By the time the first half of the Chiefs’ 26-16 win over Philadelphia was over Thursday, you could understand if Eric Fisher was a little discouraged.

Sure, the Chiefs led by 10 points. But but Fisher, the rookie right tackle who was taken No. 1 overall in April’s NFL Draft, committed one holding penalty and was beaten for a sack and two hurries by Eagles linebacker Connor Barwin and defensive end Fletcher Cox in 22 first-half passing attempts by quarterback Alex Smith.

It was, perhaps, the worst half of Fisher’s three-game professional career. Pro Football Focus, which grades every NFL player in every game, assigned Fisher a three-game grade of minus-6.7, which ranks worst on the Chiefs and and 52nd out of 55 NFL tackles who have played 75 percent of their team’s snaps.

Fisher, however, is hardly the only highly touted rookie tackle dealing with a learning curve. Pro Football Focus has also assigned negative grades to the four other right tackles drafted in the first round: Jacksonville’s Luke Joeckel ranks 36th at minus-1.9 and Philadelphia’s Lane Johnson and the New York Giants’ Justin Pugh are tied for 48th at minus-5.2. San Diego’s D.J. Fluker has only played two games due to a concussion, but checks in at minus-1.4.

“It’s been tough mentally, physically, emotionally,” Fisher said of his adjustment to the NFL. “You’ve just got to keep your composure. There’s a lot that comes with this game and you roll with the punches.”

Fortunately for the Chiefs, Fisher seemed to do just that in the second half against the Eagles. He was called for one more penalty — a hold on Cox during a running play — but didn’t allow another sack, hit or hurry in 13 pass attempts. He was also a part of an offensive line that helped the Chiefs rush for 98 yards in 21 carries during the second half, effectively putting the Eagles away.

Chiefs coach Andy Reid lauded Fisher, 22, for hanging tough and showing flashes, despite his somewhat uneven transition from left to right tackle.

“I appreciate his effort out here,” Reid said. “He’s just trying to do everything the right way and he battles. Sometimes he gets in awkward positions, and he has the athletic ability and fights his way out of it. It’s not the prettiest picture, but it ends up being a productive play and I appreciate that from him. That you can work with as a coach.”

Reid said the Chiefs will also be able to bulk up Fisher’s 6-foot-7, 306-pound frame.

“Normally they put on about 10 pounds by the time you get to the next season, and he’ll do that,” Reid said, “He has a big frame that he can add some weight to. He’ll get in the weight room with Barry (Rubin) and he’ll have a whole year to do that part.”

Reid, however, stopped short of saying the extra strength alone would rectify some of the negative plays Fisher has made.

“I don’t think it’s all that,” Reid said. “Some of it is just he wants to go attack, which is a good thing — you’d rather have it that way than the other way — he wants to go attack and he’ll over settle, but he’ll learn just to kind of calm himself down a little bit.”

Guard Geoff Schwartz also noted that Fisher has been targeted because of his draft status and the presence of established veteran Branden Albert on the opposite side.

“You’ve got to think, the Eagles and any other team, really, they’re gonna come after that guy,” said Schwartz, a six-year veteran. “Are they gonna come after B.A., or are they come after Fish? They’re gonna come after the young cat. So, that’s the way it is. He knows that, we know that.”

Fisher still managed to make a few impressive plays Thursday. He had a textbook reach block that sprung running back Jamaal Charles for a 3-yard score in the second half, and also drove a linebacker 12 yards downfield on another second-half run.

“There’s definitely different things you see in there that give you hope,” Schwartz said. “Really, some of his issues have been pass blocking and that just comes with time, knowing space, knowing angles, stuff like that. There’s no worry … we’re 3-0.”

Second-year tackle Donald Stephenson hopes the Chiefs’ overall record helps Fisher shrug off his individual defeats, which he found to be the key for surviving as a rookie.

“Because you know it’s going to happen,” said Stephenson, who played in 16 games and started seven last season. “The first thing the vets told me was it’s not college — you’re going to get your butt whupped, sometimes. It’s how you handle it and how you respond. That’s what I tried to do, I just kept my head up and brought it the next game, next play.”

Stephenson and Schwartz said that’s exactly what Fisher has done, as well.

“Everybody struggles that rookie year, and he’s handling it pretty good,” Stephenson said. “He’s always in here working on days off, watching extra film … he’s already acting like a vet. That’s going to pay off for him. The effort is there.”

Fisher seems to understand that for most, the journey toward becoming a good NFL player is not an easy process.

“Everyone makes mistakes in this game,” Fisher said. “I look at the film, I look at my assignments and I learn from those mistakes and do my best to not make them again.

“Everyday, I’m going to be a stronger player.”

You better start tightening up you ****ing meathead you.

"But but Fisher"

New nickname?

I wonder if this writer stutters in real life and has the dragon for typing into his computer.

But but

And and

Eric "Three day old" Fisher

Only a half?

meh, Albert had a worse game, imo. He nearly gave up a safety near the end of the game. If AS hadn't moved up in the pocket, it would've been disaster.

Also, it sure seemed to me we went to the right about 70% of the time. That tells me Fisher is doing just fine.

Just wow.

Good read. The first half was bad in general. The tight ends did a terrible job which was to be expected as they were 3rd and 4th string players who haven't been around long. Philly obviously game planned for that and exploited it. It looks like Andy adjusted well at half time to me. Fisher is doing just fine imo.

Rookie is rookie. He'll catch on.

Que THE gif

Good read.

this line is about as inept as can be for a winning team. they need to get something hooked up this weekend. all of them, because this type of scheme is very much an all together or nothing together kind.

Wait, I thought we were doomed.

Oline has just been weak ... the entire thing

fisher has played like a rookie

Albert had like 3 penalties last game iirc

interior guys have been pushed around all over


gotta hope they improve has a unit going forward or we won't be in the playoff hunt for long


bright side is that we are still 3-0 and haven't played anywhere near to our talent level on the Offensive side of the ball.

Gotta start running more in the first half. Bill Maas pointed out that it doesn't do a rookie tackle any favors if his first step on every play is backwards.
Posted via Mobile Device

Im not worried. I wasn't happy about the pick but I have a really good feeling this kid is going to go beast mode in the near future.

drafting OL is safe, they can play well right away

we don't know how good he would be if he played his normal position. certainly can't determine from playing the opposite side, but he's likely to stay there if they sign Albert.. I think they will let Albert go after the season and plug in Stephenson.

Yep :clap:

NYG have some nasty DE's, so I worry about Fisher on Sunday.

But....

G-Men have a rookie tackle too, and Hali and Houston will abuse him as well.
So, that could be a wash.

don't care, they drafted him to play RT...that's his job, and they chose him to do it...with the #1 pick in the draft


Albert moved from guard to tackle played brilliantly as a rookie on a much shittier team...

fisher is the worst RT in the league, it's ok for people to expect better...no excuses are required

Fisher has a good work ethic. I think he's going to be fine, once he figures it out. It's a big jump from Central Michigan to the NFL. Even last week, he played much better in the second half. So we'll see. I just hope he doesn't get Smith killed.

it's a nice safe position to pick, yeah?

Good post. I think most of the haters want to see him fail because we didn't draft who they wanted.

I think this O-line might do a better job overall if they got to do more runblocking early in the game.

They have been great in the 4th quarter of the last 2 games running the ball on clock draining drives.

Seems to me they would not be on their heels so much on passing plays early in the game, if they had a chance to hit their opponents with some run blocking early.

no shit right there

But but tackles are safe and contribute right away!

http://uranus.ckt.net/~gochiefs/truestfans.gif

This. It's not good for the oline period when the DEs can pin their ears back every play.

folded arms guy gets me every time.

I hope he becomes the best god damn tackle on planet earth, but it was still a shit pick.

I think he deserves a job in front office for being the smartest guy in the room :D

And what would you know about that, since you joined this forum long after the draft?

Yeah, you're not BlackBob at all :rolleyes:

Not gonna ****ing happen. This is Andy Reid we're talking about.

He's already outed himself with the 3-3-5 talk last week as well as admitting he was on the Geno thread last season.

And the part about his uncle porking him in the poop shoot.

Then he denied being Black Bob earlier today.

I wish the douchebag was just come out and say it. I didn't vote for him to be banned from this place, and I view him no differently than some of the other snooty "You're not a real fan" assholes on here. If he doesn't want to be such a huge distraction, he should just admit who he is and keep a low profile like Maverick.

Gotta love it.

Chiefs get the #1 pick and select the 4th worst player at his position... out of 55 players.

#playmaker

Fisher will be a stud.

How has no one fixed the gif so that it pauses at the end with an arrow pointed at him and says "WANTED QB."

Maverick keeps a low profile?

This is how I always picture Maverick

http://i42.tinypic.com/28s7pj5.jpg

He posts a lot, but when people flip him shit, he does a pretty good job of letting it roll of his back these days.

He was pick 1.1 I'm not giving him an excuse that he is playing RT instead of LT.


Fisher needs to bulk up and eat more LJS to help insure Thiggy game day threads.

Worst number 1 overall pick in franchise history













Also the best by default

Everybody is focusing on Fisher, but the O-line as a unit looked like crap most of the Philly game.

It's mostly bad conditioning. They came into a short week unprepared. This Sunday is going to be a different story. And Fisher will continue to improve.

I'm still in shock that a draft was deemed so weak that 3 of the top 4 picks were right tackles...

Also, people love small sample sizes around here. Nobody has the patience for the big picture.

new coaching
new system
new group of Oline
young Oline
inexperience Oline

:shrug:

3-0....how bad can our rookie RT be ?????

Is this a joke? Have you seen the qb running for his life lately?

This is absolutely false.

It's the inexperience of Allen, Hudson and Fisher along with technique and chemistry issues.

This line will get better over the course of the season but it has absolutely nothing to do with conditioning.

Well, look at the Top Ten or Twelve guys drafted this year. No one is impressing.

Mingo and Jordan have like 4 tackles and one sack each. The tackles are struggling. Tavon Austin is struggling. Cooper is out for the year. DJ Haden is crap.

The only guys, IMO, out of the top 15 or so guys that I would swap for Fisher, at this point, are Sheldon Richardson, Lotuleili and possibly Vacarro.

KHAN!!!!!:deevee:

You've probably watched him play, huh?

That dude was a Chiefs fan like most of us here. Just stand there and roll with the punches. All you can do really.

That said, Fisher will get better with time. I hope...

Well, he can't exactly regress, so there's that.

I would have much rather had Sheldon Richardson over Eric Fisher. But again, the problem there would have been getting him on the field. I have no idea if he's doing well for the Jets this year or not, but you have a KC team that restructured Jackson to basically pay him peanuts for the final year of his contract and who had just signed Mike DeVito to a starter's deal.

For his rookie season anyway, Sheldon at best would be seeing the field through the line rotation, and would have only started in the case of injury. It also makes the defensive line a strong permanent fixture for the next 3-4 seasons, or until DeVito's wheels fall off. We would be getting better RT play for this season, but it would also force our hand in terms of Albert's contract.

But hey, that's pretty much going to happen anyway. I think Dorsey surely must already see that the Chiefs are a way better football team with Branden Albert than without. Albert's probably going to gain some more ground on a longterm deal negotiation with Dorsey than he got last offseason.

that's it, tempt fate by saying shit like 'it can't get worse'


Fisher isn't that bad ... he's just not good enough right now

Tony Mandarich part II

Lotuleili is playing well, as is Vacarro.

Vacarro and Berry would have been sick.

And Poe-Richardson and/or Poe-Lotuleili wouldn't be too far behind.

This might turn out to be the worst draft, at least the first round in a looooong time. Heh, Chiefs luck.

Lol. With that hypothetical secondary, I don't fear the Broncos one bit. Cover 3 the shit out of Peyton and let our LBs do the rest of the work. That would be so sexy.

Oh sure, make excuses for them. They have had like 150 snaps together.. enough to be old pros.

He better turn into an All-Pro.

I liked what someone posted in another thread:

Re: Fisher - "NO MORE EXCUSES!"
Re: Geno Smith - "He's just a rookie!"

Yeah, that argument never gets flipped around.

LMAO

Welcome to CP.

Yeah, this. Just a shitty draft. Of course there will be guys that emerge as star players who came from this draft, but overall it was just the worst year to have the #1 pick. Possibly in my lifetime. At least that I can remember.

Albert had Brian Waters on one side and TE Brad Cottam on the outside helping him almost every ****ing snap of his rookie season with the Chiefs.

why do folks keep forgetting this.

Also, it's a changed league now, where the RT is seeing players that are pretty fast and beastly -- like, say, Justin ****ing Houston & JJ Watt.

We all knew they weren't going to take a QB. And I know it's early in Fisher's career and he had an injured finger, blah, blah, blah.

But I'd be remiss to mention that I'd be more comfortable with John Dorsey had he identified a better football player, out of the gates, than Fisher.

I (still) believe that a first round pick, especially the #1 overall, should contribute positively from Day One. From my POV, Fisher as failed to do so but guys like Richardson, Vacarro, Lotuleili and Hopkins have been difference makers immediately.

Dorsey's done a very good job of bringing in complimentary players in free agency but his draft record, to date, is poor.

Let's just hope that's not a harbinger of things to come.

So at this point do you have any hope at all that Fisher could one day blossom into a Pro Bowl tackle?

The same people that are saying Fisher is a bust are the same that were anointing RG3 and Kap great QBs after a year. Patience, brethren. :)

His only pick to play much this year so far is fisher. Dunno if that's good or bad.

Will it matter if he does? Nope.

Terrible position to pick to improve your team, especially at #1. Look for someone who can block in the middle rounds.

Hope? Sure.

But the #1 overall guy should be in beast mode from Day One, not need a year in the weight room, learning technique, etc.

There's been absolutely nothing so far to show that he has that sort of potential. Not even really any dominating flashes so far.

Just a bunch of 'meh' mixed in with a healthy does of 'WTF' and 'shit'.

The book isn't written by any means; but there is no data to show that sort of optimism at this point.

ROFL No kidding....

Agreed. If not in beast mode; at least showing flashing of dominance.

We've seen the exact opposite so far.

When the Chiefs are need of a solid starting TE and will likely need more CB's/Safeties later in the season, I don't think it can be classified as "good".

And Knile Davis needs to go to the Tiki Barber School of Fumbling.

I'd like to think he just needs time because of the position switch, but it looks to me like he can't physically handle some of these guys. He's getting whipped. He doesn't look strong at all.

If the Chiefs get into playoff run mode you wonder how long it takes before they want to put in Stephenson or Schwartz, who is a solid RT, to avoid disastrous results on key passing downs.

STFU noob :D