Why Hickey Nailed J. James pick

[The New Guy]

He nailed the pick cause he got a RT that actually plays RT? Wow. We could draft a wet mop and some of y'all would find a way to praise the GM for doing so.

We won't know if he nailed the pick until James is on the field and playing at a high level. The only thing I know right now is that we desperately needed a RT. We were 1 more win away from making the playoffs. The RT position last year cost us at least 1 win.

Yes, it would have been nice to trade down and pick up an extra 3rd round pick, but there is no guarantee that James would still be there. Apparently, Hickey didn't think it was worth the risk.

Thinking about who else was available to play RT (Kouandijo, Mosses, Ect..) or the free agents options that are available at RT, I tend to agree. Now, hopefully he made the right choice and picked the best RT in the draft.

 

[fininpsl]

After comparing the strengths and weaknesses of James and Martin..... I have no clue why some people had us taking Martin over James.... Makes me scratch my head and think that these so called draft experts don't know sh**. Why would we take a projected guard over a as close as you can get to first day starting RT?

J James
STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES

STRENGTHS: Surprisingly quick off the snap, showing the ability to slide to protect the edge against the variety of speed rushers he has faced in the SEC. Plays on the balls of his feet but with his knees bent and his butt down, putting him good position to shuffle laterally as well as anchor against a quality bull-rush. Surprisingly light feet also stand out while run-blocking, as does his competitive spirit.
Powerful at the point of attack and can drive defenders off the ball. Not shy about peeling off of them to target would-be tacklers at the second level, as well. A plug and play candidate, James looks like a solid bet to crack the first 100 picks of the 2014 draft.

WEAKNESSES: Like most blockers with his frame, James occasionally struggles with pad level. When he drops his head, he can be beaten with a swim move over the top. This occurs most often while run blocking.

Z. Martin
STRENGTHS: Very good at keeping his feet underneath him while keeping his butt low to handle both speed and power. He does play with good quickness (but not explosiveness) off the snap, showing knee bend and core strength to anchor, as well as the lateral agility to mirror more athletic defenders.
He also shows better athleticism than you might think when blocking on the move, demonstrating above average straight-line speed to get to the second level, as well as the nastiness to bury his target into the ground.

WEAKNESSES: With less than ideal length and lateral range, Martin's NFL future may lie inside at guard, where he never played in college. The move to guard is necessary because Martin does not possess great height, arm length or foot speed. He chucks his way back (rather than sliding) for an effective if not aesthetically-pleasing form of pass protection.

COMPARIES TO: Logan Mankins, OG, New England Patriots - Mankins has been one of the NFL's most valuable offensive linemen since being selected by New England in the first round of the 2005 draft, and has anchored the Patriots' front line with top-notch instincts, toughness and versatility despite lacking elite athleticism. Martin exhibits many of the same traits, and should draw first-round consideration

Easy. Martin was the hot name. Leading up to the draft James was the one tackle outside of the top 3 that you heard very little negative about. IMHO he just wasn't highly rated because he played on the right side.

 

[Digital]

Because he had a nail gun in his hand and was dancing to thrash metal?

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

 

[dolpns13]

as a student of the custodial arts, i respectively beg to differ, sir.

Swiffer Sweeper cant hold a mops jock strap.

 

[JTech194]

We won't know if he nailed the pick until James is on the field and playing at a high level. The only thing I know right now is that we desperately needed a RT. We were 1 more win away from making the playoffs. The RT position last year cost us at least 1 win.

Yes, it would have been nice to trade down and pick up an extra 3rd round pick, but there is no guarantee that James would still be there. Apparently, Hickey didn't think it was worth the risk.

Thinking about who else was available to play RT (Kouandijo, Mosses, Ect..) or the free agents options that are available at RT, I tend to agree. Now, hopefully he made the right choice and picked the best RT in the draft.

This is very true. And as a guy that feels like the first round should be reserved for playmakers.. I'm on the record as saying, if you're going to pick an offensive lineman in the first round...... HE BETTER BE GOOD AND START FROM DAY 1. Otherwise, our GM should be fired.

 

[aquaman54]

He nailed the pick cause he got a RT that actually plays RT? Wow. We could draft a wet mop and some of y'all would find a way to praise the GM for doing so.

Just like the masses out there,that were going to throw Hickey under the bus......"NO MATTER WHO HE DRAFTED"!!!

 

[roy_miami]

Just like the masses out there,that were going to throw Hickey under the bus......"NO MATTER WHO HE DRAFTED"!!!

Yup. A faction of the fanbase would have hated the pick no matter who it was. Lucky for the masses I'm not GM though cause I'm pretty sure I would have taken Manziel...

 

[NYPhinzFan]

Yup. A faction of the fanbase would have hated the pick no matter who it was. Lucky for the masses I'm not GM though cause I'm pretty sure I would have taken Manziel...

And you would be loved by the fan base. That's what most fans want; The hot name.

 

[NRA]

and we know that Hickey was open to making a deal but only if he got the best of it which is fine.

we know this? how?

all hickey ever said was he did field a couple calls for trade. that was it. he didnt say we got calls but no one offered what we thought was a good deal. they wanted james all along. they said a day or so back he was the pick since january. and after researching him, thoroughly, it was the RIGHT choice. all these guys on the baord who wwhine at the pic think you can throw any lard body into an o-line and thats that. you cant. the zone blocking scheme calls for athletic linemen with great feet, mirror ability, and ability to get off the line quick and into the second level and get a lock on the defender.

all the top guys everyone wanted DO NOT posses those traits. they actually wouldnt have been good for scheme. and after james, the only one left for quite a while who could play in the zbs was turner.

this draft was all about rebuilding the o-line. they had their players marked and got them. YES!! FINDING A RT WHO CAN ACTUALLY PLAY IN THE SCHEME IS REASON TO PRAISE THE GM!! guys like ireland would have done exactly what so many on here wanted hickey to do. go with some more popular OT even though he cant play in the scheme at all. yeah, thats the way to do it!!

 

[KTOWNFINFAN]

Agreed. I think this idea that you need to transition to LT to get respect is for the birds and you're going to see a lot more players become specialists and stay where they fit best throughout their careers.

I would add that this idea that Hickey made a huge mistake by not trading is wrong. IMO the trade would not have been far off from even value, so its basically a take it or leave it type deal, and we know that Hickey was open to making a deal but only if he got the best of it which is fine. So for me its absolutely the right call to not be a pushover to make a fair trade. I'm sure Belichick and other teams that trade down a lot know full well they get the best of it every time they trade down for even points according to the chart and I'm also pretty sure they have a hard rule that the chart is gospel and they only trade according to the chart, and why wouldn't they? Why would they ever risk the leverage they have over the cash cow in points they gain to make a fair trade?

Sorry to be the one that disagrees with you but Hickey certainly did NOT get the best of our trades this year.

Dolphins:
-gave up #50 (400 pts) and in return got #57 (330 pts) & #125 (47 pts), 330+47=377
Dolphins gave up 400 pts and only got 377 in return

-gave up #57 (330 pts) and in return got #63 (276 pts) & #171 (23), 276+23=299
Dolphins gave up 330 pts and only got 299 in return

-gave up #81 (185 pts) & #116 (62 pts) 185+62=247 and in return got #67 (255 pts)
Dolphins gave up 247 pts and got back 255, the only trade they got the best of.

If you add the totals together we gave up 977 pts and got back 931 pts, a loss of 46 pts, which is a 4rd draft pick. We lost 3 times as much in the two that we lost, compared to what we gained in the one that we won.

Now as I have stated in another thread on this subject, you can't get away with allowing your team to get abused this badly every year, but at least this year it was a deep draft and even though you had to give up much more than equal value, you did manage to get one extra player out of it. Not off to a good start but it was his first go of it, but if it happens again next year I would not be happy.

 

[roy_miami]

we know this? how?

all hickey ever said was he did field a couple calls for trade. that was it. he didnt say we got calls but no one offered what we thought was a good deal. !

Pretty sure he did say exactly that, that he had opportunities to trade but he didn't like the value.

---------- Post added at 08:40 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:38 PM ----------

Sorry to be the one that disagrees with you but Hickey certainly did NOT get the best of our trades this year.
.

I was talking about the first round trade down for an extra third which he would have lost 60 or 70 points on. I knew he took the worst of it on the others which bothers me a little because he seems to be inconsistent but still 20 points is nowhere near as bad as 70.

 

[LDaniel7]

The chart is overvalued in deep drafts.

LD

 

[roy_miami]

The chart is overvalued in deep drafts.

LD

The chart is probably overvalued for any draft but that doesn't stop teams like New England and San Fran from always getting proper value according to the chart. I don't know if Jimmy Johnson traded down a lot but if he did he probably designed the chart to steal value from bad GMs.

 

[GoonBoss]

It was a terrible pick.

 

[flynryan15]

Given our needs it was the safe pick.