What do you think about Dennis Hickey?

[Fin_Frenzy_84]

Do you think Hickey had a good first season? What do you think of Hickey's free agent signings? Do you think he had a good draft? I know its a little early to judge the players he has brought in but I have seen some nice flashes from some young kids If these players can gain consistency then Hickey may of found some big time steals. I think Hickey did a good job signing Albert and Mitchell although the injuries and Mitchell slowing down the second half of the season. Albert was dominant and unfortunately went down. I like that Hickey gave Moreno a chance. Unfortunately he went down but the kid could still ball out when he is healthy.

The thing I like the most about Hickey was his draft

1st Round- OT Ja'Wuan James- He balled out at right tackle and did very good stepping in for Albert at Left Tackle. A lot of people believed this pick was a reach but James proved he was worth that first round pick. Grade A-

2nd Round- WR Jarvis Landry- Landry had a few mistakes this season and was not perfect but for being a rookie, he had a great season. Landry plays extremely physical, has great routes, hands, and quickness. Made plays as a kick and punt returner and was very reliable at WR. We may even start building around Landry if Miami cleans the house at receiver by getting rid of Wallace which is a big maybe IMO, and getting rid of Gibson, Hartline, and Matthews which all are fairly high possibilities. Proves that Landry has potential to develop into a 1000 yard receiver. Great find by Hickey in the second. People knocked Landry's speed but Hickey judge off his numbers and his film. Grade A

3rd Round- OG Billy Turner- Didn't play much but was able to see some action in the final two games because of the injures. He still has nice size, athleticism, and potential. He had a very solid training camp and apparently was beating some good veterans during 1 on 1s. I still like this pick but he still has not proved anything in the league. He still has a ton of upside and potential though to become a big time player on the line. Grade D

4th Round- CB/S Walt Aikens- Managed to find some PT at safety and cornerback because of the injuries to our secondary and did pretty well for a middle round pick. Still needs to grow but another hickey pick that has a lot of potential and played pretty nice for a rookie. Grade B-

5th Round- TE Arthur Lynch- Injuries ruined his rookie season. No clue about this Hickey pick. Grade F

5th Round- LB Jordan Tripp- He had a very good training camp and apparently made a lot of plays. He was redshirted this year to learn and get bigger. I am excited about this Hickey pick and Tripp could easily find some PT next year if he takes that next step and plays as good as he is advertised. Grade D+

6th Round- WR Matt Hazel- No idea about this pick. Maybe in the future. Grade F

7th Round- DE Terrence Fede- Managed to find playing time despite being apart of a deep defensive line. Fede made some plays with a good majority of his PT and looks like a late steal. Fede still has a lot of potential and has the tools to gain knowledge and strength to become a very good player IMO. Grade B

Undrafted- RB Damian Williams- Nice find by Hickey. He showed some flashes and was also good in the pass game. Hickey obviously deserves an A. Any undrafted player that manages to find the field his first season and actually performs and made some nice plays is a nice steal. Grade A

Undrafted- LB Chris McCain- Played some this season after having a huge training camp. McCain made the most of his PT and made some big time plays. His athleticism and size shows big time potential and makes him seem like a promising player. As long as he just keeps on learning, the sky is the limit for McCain. Another big time find for Hickey. Grade A





Good teams are built by drafting talent. Hickey has brought a lot of young talented players to Miami in one offseason... I see a good majority of these players from this draft class possibly being able to contribute somehow next year and play pretty well. Including several of the late round and undrafted players like Aikens, Tripp, Fede, McCain, and Williams.

Maybe I am a Miami homer and overrate our players but I really do believe Hickey drafted a couple of future big time players and several other contributors in the 2014 draft. He even managed to make good FA signings and worked out team friendly contracts. Hopefully he has another offseason like last. Hickey cleaned some of the house last offseason but this offseason I believe Hickey will clean the house big time. Miami really needs another big offseason like 2014 by finding some draft picks that can find the field their first season. If Hickey can manage to have another offseason like that, then I believe Miami can be a playoff team next year and gradually become better and better over the season as long as the coaching is there.

What are some other fan's thoughts about Hickey?

 

[-MiamiSoul]

I think he did a great job in his first season. Injuries were not his fault, and the draft picks were solid. he addressed most holes but he was given a row boat with two many issues to fix in just one season. It sank. Partly because the Row boat needs a real sailor , not some average Joe Blow.

Hickey did great. looking forward to his 2015 draft. But he can put together the fastest car in the world........if Philbin is driving its going to crash into the wall everytime.

 

[SCLSU Mud Dogs]

No GM hits on every pick in a draft. The future of this year's draft class and undrafted signings is bright. I'm incredibly excited to see his plan unfold during this year's draft.

 

[phinfan33]

I think he had a solid first season as our GM. I personally am looking towards his 2nd season to see what he does. I never could say that about Ireland.

 

[royalshank]

I thought he did very well. Look how many of those rookies either had significant playing time / contributions or made huge plays for us - McCain and Fede blocked punts for example.

The FA haul was good w Albert, Moreno, Delmas and even Finnegan was an upgraded until he got hurt. Can't blame the injuries on the GM.

We need to hit on a big impact player in this draft IMO.

 

[Zounds]

Hickey did a solid job in the draft, and outside of Grimes and Albert, he didn't commit a lot of money to players in free agency wich allowed him to study our players for 1 year. We have a lot of flexibility heading into this offseason, and I believe it was by design.

 

[DuderinoN703]

Arthur Lynch shouldn't be an F. If he continues to get hurt sure but he's an INC for me.

Jordan Tripp is a D+ but you're excited by the pick? If he was an A+ would you explode bc of excitement?

:d-day:

 

[tcdrover]

Hickey was the biggest upgrade the Dolphins made last year.

He looks, talks and ACTS like a GM. The draft was good, the guys he brought in also did very well until they got injured.

Ireland was kind of an embarrassment. Just the way he carried himself and the idi0tic things he said to the media, forget about the bad moves.

 

[NY8123]

What I thought Hickey did a lot better than Ireland was getting players that fit his coaches schemes. Ireland used that archaic approach laid down by Bill Parcells that says "never reach to fill a need, pick based on value of talent per position of pick".

I felt like they were always hammering square pegs into round holes with Ireland, at least in one year with Hickey the feel is "coach has a need for a player with x-skill set, I'll do my best to fill a need with a pick even if it is a slight reach".

 

[Montana-phan]

I have been very pleased with Hickey. Honestly I am not sure if I had become jaded with Ireland's off seasons, or if he really did do a good job. Either way it is great to see a future with our draft picks and FA signings. A positive future.

 

[rent this space]

He's done a good job overall. The free agent injuries were no surprise given their histories but there aren't many free agents with no issues.
I think NY8123 nailed it about getting players to fit the system. It's like night and day compared to Ireland.

 

[flynryan15]

I think he did a great job in his first season. Injuries were not his fault, and the draft picks were solid. he addressed most holes but he was given a row boat with two many issues to fix in just one season. It sank. Partly because the Row boat needs a real sailor , not some average Joe Blow.

Hickey did great. looking forward to his 2015 draft. But he can put together the fastest car in the world........if Philbin is driving its going to crash into the wall everytime.

He signed a bunch of free agents known for missing extended amounts of playing time due to injury and that's not his fault?

 

[J. David Wannyheimer]

Well, here are my thoughts on Hickey:

1. He gambled on a number of injury 'prone' veterans. However, he gambled on them with CHEAP one year contracts, or contracts with one year escape clauses. So from that point of view, I don't hate his FA as much as I did before. He didn't leave us in bad shape like Jeff did in 2013.

2. The Albert signing was a good one, and his injury was a fluke. There is injury prone, and then there is a fluke injury because Dallas Thomas blows. I do not blame the GM for that one, even though I do think that the Finnegan, Moreno, and Delmas injuries were a bit more predictable.

3. James looks like a good pick at this time.

4. Landry looks like a good pick at this time. I fully expect that he will pull a Tiki Barber and work on how he holds the football to reduce his fumbling.

5. Billy Turner is the big unknown. Personally, I believe he is going to be good. We can't count on it, but I love the athleticism, the attitude, and the sheer meanness of Turner on the field. In the limited action we saw of Turner against the Jets (who have a damn good DL), Turner looked real good. He looked not only like he belonged, but like the best lineman we had on the field. I know that that was only in a few snaps, and he was fresh, but Dallas Thomas and Daryn Colledge and the rest of these guys never, ever, ever looked that good.

6. He picked up legit talent in his UDFAs. Damien Williams is an NFL football player, and so is Chris McCain. In fact, I think McCain might be our most talented young player. Very, very intriguing guy. And he is not quite the character risk some people assumed -- if you look into what happened at Cal, he is NOT a bad person, he was just insubordinate -- and I give Hickey credit for looking into that.


On the whole, I feel Hickey has been a definite upgrade over Jeff Ireland so far. I hope that he gets it right this off-season, because I do feel like we have the potential to be either a 5-11 team or an 11-5 team next year, depending on whether or not Dennis Hickey's questionable moves from 2013 (Turner) and potential moves in 2014 pan out.

 

[Zounds]

He signed a bunch of free agents known for missing extended amounts of playing time due to injury and that's not his fault?

With the exception of Albert, they were stop gap players who received 1 year contracts. Finnegan, Delmas, and Moreno are not long term commitments, and we did get decent production out of the first 2. And Albert's injury was not related to a pre-existing condition or general fragility, such as with Delmas or Moreno.

How many of Ireland's signees ended up on IR this year??.... 7 players. And most of them have had no serious injury history.

 

[trojanma]

He signed a bunch of free agents known for missing extended amounts of playing time due to injury and that's not his fault?

He signed those guys to cheap short term contracts.
He rolled the dice that those dudes would last the season and some of them did and others didn't.

It is highly superior to signing bad players to long term contracts like Wheeler or average players to huge contracts like Ellerbee and Wallace.

Everyone is looking for the cheap solid player. Guys hit FA for a reason.