MD85: man. you couldnt be anymore wrong if you tried. james, and turner will be day one starters and they were drafted to do just that.
and landry will our slot guy right off and i will be on the field so much in different sets he might as well be a "starter".
a BIG part of our pass protection and run blocking was the fact WE DID NOT HAVE ONE TE ON THE ROSTER WHO CAN BLOCK!! and you have to have one. and lucas just may be the best blocking te in the draft. and he is a much under rated pass catcher. he is going to surprise!! starter, as far as our te's go will be dictated on what the play is. what the plan for the drive is. lucas is going to be on the field a lot weather by himself in power run plaqys or in 2 te sets with clay. a great pic and just what was needed at the te position to pair with clay.
aiken? we needed a big, physical db. he can play corner and safety equally well. who was going to muscle sammy watkins? jimmy williams? aiken is a top 10 corner in many draft mags. and dont be surprised if at some point he becomes a starting safety. very, very physical player. a real disruptor who's knack is knocking guys out of their routes and jamming them at the line of scrimage. is great at taking the right angles. and that is a theme with this draft. we are not big and tuff anywhere. we needed enforcer types and he is just that. so is delmas. so is finnegan. and turner and james and lucas and aiken. they all have these traits listed in their scouting reports, physical, tuff. in your face fighters and leaders.
hickey is rebuilding this team where it was needed. we were soft. he has brought in nasty and mean guys. he has brought in a lot of wr's in f/a and the one we drafted because outside of the ones who are our starters, there isnt anyone who has been other than mediocre. they have had enough time. it had to be churned, roster spots opened up. way, way over due and something ireland shirked.
there is a clear and surgical precise plan to this draft. if you actually look at the scouting reports on these guys, the top 5-6 draftees, they are just what we need and will fix what we have been lacking.
come on? how often have the fans been griping about no enforcers, no leadership. another trait of these draftees is several were team captains to go along with there nasty dimeanor!!
this was strong, calculated, smart drafting from start to finish. our needs were different than a lot of other teams as our offensive line needed a complete rebuild. everybody said pre draft that was our biggest need. but what many do not understand is that all linemen are not the same. they dont play the same in any scheme. we run a zone blocking scheme and we had to have players who had the skill sets to do it. trying to put a power scheme road grader into a zone scheme is round peg in square hole. i flamed a bit on the james pick. but then, as i looked through my board and went back to the draft mags, his skill set for the zbs was tops, especially at the rt position. there wasnt a rt candidate after him with his skill for the scheme. hickey knew rebuilding this line was CRITICAL and misses couldnt happen. they couldnt have round pegs for square holes. ireland was notorious for doing just that. and its why so much of this team, especially the 0-line was never cohesive.
had someone grabbed james before they picked again [which absolutely was a risk as he was no longer a 3rd round grade at draft time], that could have messed up the whole plan for the line. he was the corner stone of there plan. this was their guy, he had the best skill set for the position and they stood pat. thats conviction and thats balls. it was no reach, no panic. it was calm, cool and calculated. ireland never had that. he grasped at straws. never had an over all plan.
so all of you who think these guys are non starters and hickey blew it, go back to the draft mags and scouting sites. look at their skill sets. apply that to our needs. like tripp, the olb kid from wyoming. top 10 rated olb we got day 3. lucas, top 10 te we landed day 3. we got players that not only were needs, but had talent and skill deserving of way higher of a draft spot.
for folks who dont know the team or havnt truly researched our picks, this was a boring, bad draft.
to those of us who knew what the team needed, went back and studied the picks and their strengths and how they fit into hickeys plan, this was a GREAT draft and filled with real value. we didnt have 40 first round picks like the browns and rams and others did. we had a small handul. we needed to many players to trade up. had we traded up for one of the high profile ot's, we would have had 2 late round pics left to draft from. we didnt have the horses. james was the guy and there was no one after him at the tackle position who had the zbs skill set. they couldnt risk losing him. and for those who THINK he would have been there in the third round, you are sadly mis informed and have ignored the fact that james moved WAY UP from past thoughts he would be a 3rd or 4th round choice. most ended up with a high second round grade or even getting into the first. and he did. like i said, i railed a bit when this choice was made but i did myself a favor and went back and educated myself and found out the fact there wasnt a rt left after james who was a good zbs fit. he will start day one and will be with the team for years.
everyone loves coach benton. you think he didnt break down all of the line pics with hickey? of course he did. so if you guys dont like our o-line choices, you can blame benton also.
for what this team needed and where most of these players were taken, the value and strengths and fit of the players chosen, this is a strong B++ draft. and has big potential to be A+!!
