Some of you guys are so short sighted. Until we get the offense line set nothing else on the offensive side matters. Playmakers at WR, TE, or RB will not make plays if Tanny is running for his life or on his back. The line must be set for several years or we will continue living groundhog day. It's pay me now or pay me later. If we don't go all in on the offensive line now it will continue to be a never ending cycle of missing out on playmakers in future drafts. As for James I watched every one of his games in college, he is a solid RT good at both pass and run blocking and experienced in ZBS. He will start day one and set the position for several years. He was Hickey's target at a great position of need and he pull the trigger. James can flat out play the position and was graded as a first round talent by the only person who matters, the man with the trigger. Those of you who say we could have got him moving down or in the second simply don't know that for a fact, every move changes the draft board of other teams. Hickey got his man and our offensive line just got a whole lot better.
Vols Fan on James
- Thread starter Merle13
- Start date
Id like to take a Vols fans view on this. However after hearing UM fans masterbate over Lamar "gets knocked over by a particularly tough feather" Miller for 2 years, I just cant take college fans seriously about your own players.
Im open minded about the player, but hate where he was picked
Im open minded about the player, but hate where he was picked
I was er am as pissed off as most on here but when sanity hits I realize that we did fill a glaring need with James. Would I have liked a play for Z Martin, yes but it didn't happen so now we can move on to playmakers.
If I don't have to down the brews watching Tanny getting destroyed every third down and waiting for him to get an injury then I'm ok with it. We needed a pure right tackle and got one, all reviews I have seen say he's got a lot of potential but we reached for him. Heck, we're Fin fans, if we dropped back two we would have lost him with the dark cloud that's been hovering over the stadium for decades.
Let's hope we can be happy tonight and move on from this.
If I don't have to down the brews watching Tanny getting destroyed every third down and waiting for him to get an injury then I'm ok with it. We needed a pure right tackle and got one, all reviews I have seen say he's got a lot of potential but we reached for him. Heck, we're Fin fans, if we dropped back two we would have lost him with the dark cloud that's been hovering over the stadium for decades.
Let's hope we can be happy tonight and move on from this.
joeyme_2004
Starter
- Joined
- May 10, 2005
- Messages
- 206
- Reaction score
- 0
Exactly this was THEIR guy and to risk him being gone by trading back or waiting for the 2nd round wasn't worth it. I'll like this pick unless he fails just like every other pick. 48 SEC consecutive starts has to mean something. I mean C'mon.
James is both the best RT in the draft and the best RT for MIA because he played four years without missing a game in the zone scheme the Phins play. The OL now has two bookend tackles.
Casserly just ran his mock draft for the top of the second round and the RTs are flying off the board. MIA led the RT run and I hope they lead the OG run at #50. Its nice to be at the beginning instead of the ass end of runs for once.
Casserly just ran his mock draft for the top of the second round and the RTs are flying off the board. MIA led the RT run and I hope they lead the OG run at #50. Its nice to be at the beginning instead of the ass end of runs for once.
Phinsguy
Active Roster
- Joined
- Sep 12, 2010
- Messages
- 2,326
- Reaction score
- 1,290
"James is both the best RT in the draft and the best RT for MIA because he played four years without missing a game in the zone scheme the Phins play. The OL now has two bookend tackles.
Casserly just ran his mock draft for the top of the second round and the RTs are flying off the board. MIA led the RT run and I hope they lead the OG run at #50. Its nice to be at the beginning instead of the ass end of runs for once. "
Agreed....and if either Bitonio or S'ua Filo fall to them (or they work a deal to move up to get one of them) I can stop taking my "happy pills"
Casserly just ran his mock draft for the top of the second round and the RTs are flying off the board. MIA led the RT run and I hope they lead the OG run at #50. Its nice to be at the beginning instead of the ass end of runs for once. "
Agreed....and if either Bitonio or S'ua Filo fall to them (or they work a deal to move up to get one of them) I can stop taking my "happy pills"
finfan54
Active Roster
- Joined
- Aug 3, 2002
- Messages
- 26,168
- Reaction score
- 29
What I notice is he uses his guns well and they say he is an athletic type so you combine those two items and you have a guy who will ive RT time to throw and a nice lane for he RB to cut back outside to when he power blocks down.
I also notice he doesnt flinch at the site of a blitz and is disciplined. He will help out Dallas Thomas tons this offseason.
- Joined
- Nov 16, 2005
- Messages
- 6,779
- Reaction score
- 2,548
Actually focusing purely on next season's need instead of thinking about the future would be the short sighted route. James may only ever be an okay right tackle. Not something that is worth the 19th pick.
Saying all that matters is the man who pulled the trigger got the man he wanted is not the most compelling argument; I know another man who was pulling the trigger named Jeff Ireland who spent a couple years getting the man he wanted (including trading up for Daniel Thomas). If the trigger man is a bad talent evaluator then who cares if he got the guy he wanted? Someone really wanted Ted Ginn Jr., Jason Allen, and Pat White as well. If you say you are happy with the pick you are attacked by the fact we picked the guy too early. If you say you hate the pick you are attacked as a negative person and someone who doesn't understand that games are won in the trenches. Regardless of the stance you take, a little objective reasoning will tell you a lot here. They took him at 19 under one of two scenarios: A. They tried to find a trade partner and couldn't so took the guy they wanted; B. They rejected or did not pursue a trade because they wanted this guy that bad. Either way - it is completely clear that they got the guy they wanted at that juncture. Now, you have to ask whether or not they took the best player available, or were so desperate they grabbed a guy way too early because the need is that great. So, either they reached and did not get the proper value at 19, or they actually evaluated this guy as a top 20 talent (despite 95% of what we have seen having him not rated that high). My concern is with the latter; that is, we have a GM that was our 8th choice who can't properly evaluate talent. In the alternative, we filled a need, but we absolutley overspent to get him (similar to Brandon Albert and Mike Wallace). There is concern either way - and all we are left with is KNOWING we filled a need, but did not get good value. One thing we should all know for sure - with a salary cap, if we continue to not get good value in the draft (based on poor talent evaluation - which we have been subjected to for a long time), and overspend on free agents, we will not build a contending team.
Last edited by a moderator:
JTech194
Starter
I can care less about value... I want good football players. PERIOD. I would be perfectly ok with us drafting lets say Richard Sherman in the first round when everyone else had him graded as a 5th round pick if he ends up being the Richard sherman we know today. Same goes for Tom Brady. I couldn't care less about the perceived lack of value of getting him in the first round when everyone else had him graded as a 6th round pick if he ends up being a great player. If James ends up being good football player from DAY 1 and helps keep tannehill upright... I won't consider it a reach.
My question is just who are you? We have some pretty good talent evaluator just on this board in terms of CK, Slim and Hoops. Take into consideration that bascially almost every publication, scouting report and there are tons of them have James down in the late 2nd round or further. Seeing as there were also 2 trades right behind our pick plus Hickey also admitted that he was offered to trade out of position 19 then basically the man on the trigger just pulled it way too soon. Also you should perhap study up on Hickey as a talent evaluator. He is only here because he was about to be fired from Tampa Bay which is a team that has gone no where while he has been there and is one of the few franchises that have made the Dolphins look kind of good the past 7 years.
You are saying you don't care as long as you get (and you named) a couple superstar players. But would you make the same claim if you were comparing a good player with what could have been a superstar? You are supposed to get great players in the first round - not "good" players. For example - are you happy with a "good" player in Jared Odrick when you had to pass on Earl Thomas to get him? By best value I absolutely mean GREAT player who is contributing day one as opposed to a good player. Richard Sherman and Tom Brady are exceptions to the rule, and not the norm.
To be sure understand you clearly- you are saying you don't care if you get value at the number 19 pick as long as you get a "good" player. But at the same time you are naming superstar players for what you would be happy with. So in reality you aren't happy with a merely good player - you are happy as long as whatever the pick is ends up being a superstar?
Or alternatively, you are happy as long as you received a good player, and you don't care if you pass up pro bowl players to get him?
There were also some very balanced appraisals of Miller here from Canes fans. A few of us watched Miller beginning at Killian and haven't been surprised at anything.
Last year some Gator fans got carried away regarding Gillislee. That's a better example, IMO.
- Joined
- Mar 12, 2006
- Messages
- 25,488
- Reaction score
- 64,767
from what i understand, hickey (and many others) view zack martin as an OG in the nfl, not a tackle. since T was likely our primary need going in, big james might have had the higher grade, which would explain not wanting to trade up to take martin, or trade down and risk losing james.