FanPost

Let's Talk About a New Chief at a Different Position, OG Parker Ehinger

Continuing a little post-draft new Chiefs player preview, let's switch positions to OG and Parker Ehinger.

Previously:
Chris Jones Pre-Being Draft, Chris Jones by MNChiefsFan, Chris Jones by ChiefWarPaint
KeiVarae Russell
Eric Murray
DJ White


Parker Ehinger Offensive Guard(?) Cincinnati


Who is he:

Parker Ehinger was a 3 star recruit coming out of Highschool when he chose to go to Cincinnati. Ehinger redshirted his freshman year back in 2011 and then proceeded to start 11 games at RT his first year playing. The next two seasons Ehinger played right guard before moving to left tackle his senior year to anchor Cincy’s aggressive aerial attack.


Cincy ran a relatively spread out passing attack despite going downfield often. This style of offense makes it a little hard to translate all his ability to the NFL, especially in the run game. Despite this, Ehinger was first team All-Conference his final year at Cincinnati.



Raw numbers:

  • Height: 6’6"
  • Weight: 310lbs
  • Arm Length: 33"
  • 40 TIme: 5.26
  • Short Shuttle:
  • 3 Cone:
  • Vertical: 27 ½"
  • Broad Jump: 8’01"
  • Bench:


As far as the full athletic profile, it’s incomplete as Ehinger was dealing with a shoulder and hamstring injury during the combine and the hamstring lingers through the Pro Day. From a pure speculation standpoint, i’d guess he’s on the lower end of what we have typically been looking for athletically at OL. I want to also note that I am not a believer in SPARQ equating, in any way, to Offensive Line performance.

Games watched vs Virginia Tech (2014), vs OSU (2014), vs Houston (2015) and vs BYU (2015).

Where he wins:

Ehinger is very technically sound no matter where he plays along the OL. He keeps a solid, wide base when shooting out his stance for run blocking or kicking back into pass pro. He also keeps his chin tucked in and weight balanced over his mid-foot. Ehinger is rarely caught lunging or crossing up his feet.


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Ehinger starts off the pass pro by helping with the NT trying to cut through the A gap but quickly realizes that the DT is on a stunt around. While he may have been slightly late to completely stop the DTs stunt, he is able to recognize the rusher coming and drive him out of the play. This is a common play for Ehinger whether at OG or OT, blitzes and stunts rarely fool him and he always seems to stay in his lane.


Parker Ehinger also has a very quick punch in pass pro and while it’s not the strongest punch out there, it’s so quick and accurate that it knocks defenders off their pass rush route. When he lands it just right he can cause even large DTs to get stood up but even against powerhouses he’s able able to control their rush after landing the punch.


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Plays like this, in which Ehinger lands his punch first, result in any defensive player going nowhere. This particular play is vs Dadi Nicholas, who is a smaller guy but has good speed moves on the inside, and after Ehinger lands the punch Nicholas doesn’t even have the option to throw down a pass rushing move. Some bigger, stronger DTs might move Ehinger back a step or two after his punch but he has a good base and can usually re-anchor because he stopped most of their momentum with his punch.


Another thing Ehinger is very good at in pass protection is mirroring a pass rusher. This shows up a little less on the interior than it does outside at tackle, but some of the three technique DTs in the NFL will use more finesse moves from time to time. Whether an outside rush or inside counter, Ehinger’s base and technique allow him to mirror the rusher’s moves and stick between him and the QB. He is also very good with his hands during the footwork dance battle and maintains his balance very well.


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Here is a nice set vs Bronson Kaufusi who is a pretty good power edge rusher. Ehinger sets well originally by work outside and backwards together and is able to mirror Kaufusi’s inside swipe move with his feet. As if that wasn’t enough, Kaufusi immediately transfers to an outside rip move that Ehinger is able to stonewall by getting his hands into Kaufusi’s chest and sliding back outside. If the QB didn’t take off to run he would have been safe even from the final spin move.


In the run game Ehinger is a good down/angle blocker using his get-off and wide base to create the seal. It may sound like a small victory, to be good at angle blocking, but if you’re slow out of your stance or have too narrow of a base you can’t create the seal along the line that’s needed for some runs being used these days. I don’t have a specific play for this as I’m pretty .gif heavy on this one but just flip on any game film and you’ll see that when asked to down/angle block Ehinger rarely gives up position.



What he needs to work on:

I want to jump right back into the run blocking aspect of Ehinger’s game here, but first we have to talk a little bit about Cincinnati’s offense. I’m not exactly sure what their blocking scheme is as it appears often that the OL just sit at the LoS trying seal off lanes instead of getting to the second level. It’s almost as if every play being run is a draw even when it’s not not. I’m not sure if this is totally by design, physical limitations, or just the way the OC wants it to be run. So with that said, some of this next part about run blocking as to be taken with a grain of salt but..


  • Ehinger’s run blocking leaves an incredible amount to be desired. Aside from the down/angle blocks where he’s engaging usually an unsuspecting DL from the side, his best case scenario block looks like this:

VOymp5.0.gif Technically Ehinger makes/maintains his block and seals the defender out of the run lane coming at the B gap on his side, but if you look at where he makes the seal he opens a very small hole. On top of opening a small hole he does so behind the LoS meaning that if the defender disengages he can make the spot for nearly no gain. And again, that’s a WIN for Ehinger in the run game.

  • He creates little to no push when blocking straight ahead, again this could be by design but I’m not sure why you wouldn’t drive a "head up" player back if you could. I rarely saw Ehinger driving a defender backwards, that include defensive tackles, ends, linebackers, and SAFETIES. Often times he is blown up on run plays and ends up in the backfield, case in point here and here.
  • I’m sure of this can be cleaned up by hitting an NFL weight room, but there is an extremely long way to go if you can’t even move a player 1 inch while pulling directly into them.
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  • Along with general run game woes, Ehinger has a hard time maintain blocks. For the 343rd time this could be because of Cincy’s odd running offense, but even in plays where he absolutely needs to hold a block he can’t. I’m not sure if it’s a grip strength issue or never being taught how, but I’m not sure I’ve seen a guy struggle so often to maintain blocks on LBs and safeties just waiting for him to hit them. tSEAXI.0.gif
    That’s Vonn Bell, a FS that is NOT a known power guy, shedding Ehinger’s awful attempt at a seal after pulling and going to force a fumble (runner was down after review). Bell did the same thing earlier in the game, just let’s Ehinger hit him and shrugs him off like nothing THAT'S A SAFETY.
  • Something you may have noticed in these plays/.gifs is that Ehinger has the requisite athleticism to get into space/downfield and be near where he needs to be. Then everything falls apart, he lunges or mis-steps while trying to make his block and ends up off balance. He turns into the least technical blocker on the field when moving and asked to blocked whereas if you're coming at him he will show you near perfect technique.
  • Finally, and this is a little pickier but I did notice it, good pass rushing defensive linemen can make Ehinger pay if he misses his initial punch. Both Michael Bennett and Dadi Nicholas were able to beat Ehinger multiple times with swim moves or well timed swipes causing Ehinger’s punch to miss it’s mark. While that’s normal, what wasn’t was how he had no recovery ability after he missed the punch. He plays balanced and without lunging so I was surprised to see almost no recovery ability if he missed the punch. This is a much more minor detail, IMO, as it requires a very good pass rushing DT that is also quite quick AND then requires the rest of your teammates to lose their splits. A few examples, quick swipe and swim over .

Where he fits with the team:

While it may seem like I don’t like Ehinger, I really don’t dislike him. The choice of him over a handful of other OGs I’ve seen is strange to me, but I think I see what the Chiefs were going for with him. Ehinger is a different type of player than the Offensive Guards we already have he’s a technician that plays the game more with his mind than his athletic ability. He’s not a mauler in any sense of the word but he’s much safer in pass pro than many of the options we currently have at OG. I think, given his lack of run blocking ability straightforward, that he is much better suited for a ZBS that will let him utilize angle blocks and his wide base to create backside seals. I also think he has the ability to spot start at Tackle (whether we move Schwartz to left if Fish goes down or try to put Ehinger at LT).


Based purely on his gameplay I would not want to see Ehinger competing for starting time this year, however given his opposite set of skills compared to the competition (LDT, Fulton, Reid) I could see us giving him a shot. If Andy decides he would rather have safe pass pro over dominating run blocking I could see Ehinger pushing for the LG starting position at some point. I also think he MIGHT be our 3rd OT, as I expect Reid to be pretty stout at RG so I wouldn’t want to move him and I feel better about Ehinger at OT right now than I do OG.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Arrowhead Pride's writers or editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of Arrowhead Pride writers or editors.