What an offseason it has been for Salpointe offensive lineman Dylan Eickmeyer.
A player who had his first full year as a starter on the offensive line last season after getting limited time as a tight end on the state championship Lancer team from 2013.
He made an impression with his game film playing tackle last season which got the attention of programs at the next level. One of which, Montana, had been in Eickmeyer’s ear since the end of the 2014 season and invited him to their junior day up in Missoula. After experiencing the campus and the coaching staff, he didn’t waste time to make that his future home.
“I was excited to commit,” Eickmeyer told Sports360AZ.com. “I had been talking with them since November so I am really excited. I went up there in March for the Junior Day and fell in love with the campus, fell in love with the coaching staff. Plus side is they have my major so I am looking forward to that.”
Eickmeyer looks to take the education from Montana to become a Pharmacist which is his Grandfathers occupation for more than 40 years. He says that has been his educational focus since he was 10 years old.
Around Arizona for the class of 2016, there have already been a handful of commitments that have come down for FCS schools. In the past, we would see players who hold offers from those programs try to hold out for FBS level schools. In some of those cases, waiting would prove to be a big mistake. That has not been the case as Eickmeyer and a few other of Arizona’s finest in 2016 have seen what they have liked and have not wasted anytime to make a pledge to a place they see fit.
Eickmeyer stated why he thinks this could be changing compared to how things have been in the past.
“I think the FCS programs are growing,” explained Eickmeyer. “They are bringing in better players and more competition.”
Eickmeyer and Salpointe have been putting in two-a-day workouts and practices throughout look to get themselves back up to prominence in division II once again behind fantastic talent in the trenches with Andrew Palomares next to Eickmeyer on the offensive line and U of A commit Just Holt on the defensive line. Going up against Holt every day makes for a challenge and good competition to take Eickmeyer’s game to the next level.
“The competition’s great,” Eickmeyer mentioned. “We’ve been working hard on both sides of the ball and going up against Justin, it’s awesome. A D1 caliber FBS player, it’s just exciting. It gets a little heated but in the end, were all good.”
Overall, Eickmeyer really likes what he is seeing from the 2015 edition of the Salpointe Lancers and believes the team is going to be better than last year.
