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Grading Dennis Hickey's first season

Discussion in 'Miami Dolphins Forum' started by jinx, Dec 22, 2014.

  1. jinx

    jinx Well-Known Member

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    What grade would you give him?

    hits:
    Ju'Wuan James, Jarvis Landry, fixing the o-line with some savvy low level signings

    misses:
    not addressing nickel corner position
    lack of depth at LB and DT
    bringing back Starks instead of Soliai

    jury is still out:
    Billy Turner and the rest of the draft
    Brandon Albert. Can he return from the injury?

    I'd give him a solid B.
     
  2. the 23rd

    the 23rd a.k.a. Rio

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    -A:dolphin:

    Ross got lucky with this one!
     
  3. Stitches

    Stitches ThePhin's Biggest Killjoy Luxury Box

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    Too early for me to give a grade. Want to see how the rookies build off this season.

    Based on FA alone so far, I'd say a C, and feel I'm being generous.
     
  4. Larryfinfan

    Larryfinfan 17-0...Priceless Club Member

    Three years...to decide an offseason as successful or not successful...time will tell...
     
  5. Tin Indian

    Tin Indian Rockin' The Bottom End Club Member

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    Agreed. Solid B maybe better.

    I don't think anyone saw Randy's production dropping this hard this year, so It's hard to ding him on letting Big Paul go instead.
    As far as Nickle Corner and LB depth I think there was only so much that could be done there in one offseason. The Secondary took a bunch of injuries all year and we lost LB's right from the first game.
    Ellerbe should have been much better on the outside but we will never know. We were basically playing our LB depth all season.

    He took some chances on some injury prone players to bolster the lineup. Most of them unfortunately didn't make it through the season and that is where I'd ding him.
     
  6. Tin Indian

    Tin Indian Rockin' The Bottom End Club Member

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    Normally that has been the case. This year we got solid, if not better, production from our 1st two draft picks which is something of a rarity around here.
     
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  7. Sethdaddy8

    Sethdaddy8 Well-Known Member

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    Does Hickey get a pass for not trading down withe the Saints? Ross did him no favors declaring we were taking a RT.
     
  8. Pennington's Limp Arm

    Pennington's Limp Arm Well-Known Member

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    I was happy with what he did in the first year and trust him going forward.


    Add Moreno to the hits, he was a good idea that almost paid off. A healthy Moreno was exactly what the running game needed. A one year deal b/c he is high injury risk made it a good gamble IMO.

    Letting Nolan Carroll walk ended up being a big miss, As crazy as this sounds, things might have been different if Nolan Carroll was playing all of Jimmy Wilson's snaps this year.
    (But everyone kind of expected Taylor or Davis to step up)
     
  9. RoninFin4

    RoninFin4 Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    C-

    Bad:
    - Of his prime free agent acquisitions, Earl Mitchell is the only productive one not on IR.
    - Did not address O-line depth properly.
    - Did not address secondary depth properly.
    - Wasted a pick on Arthur Lynch - this one will sting for a while especially since Sims has developed.
    - Had a relatively easy offseason in terms of deciding to re-sign or let go of personnel. It gets tougher this year.
    - His "in-season" work was borderline negligent. Far too many holes or obvious moves not addressed (Chris Clemons, Eric Winston, Akeem Ayers).

    Good:
    - Ja'Wuan James and Jarvis Landry are the best 1-2 Draft combo since Odrick & Misi...still, we should have Earl Thomas!
    - Branden Albert, when healthy.
    - Seems to have found some nice developmental players in Turner, Aikens, Tripp, Fede, the UDFA group.
    - Seems to identify major areas of need and addressed them, albeit a lot were with 1-year deals.

    Unknown:
    - Was the majority of the work on the Draft done by Dennis Hickey, or was he merely just picking up the pieces from Ireland's work? What happens in 2015?
    - How does Hickey fare in negotiations? Charles Clay has said publicly he wants to stay. Odrick said it earlier in 2015.
    - How well does he make salary-driven decisions? There are some obvious cuts: Ellerbe, Finnegan, and Wheeler come to mind. Starks? Letting Odrick walk?
    - Is the overall body of work merely just a continuation of what Jeff Ireland was doing? Record wise, Hickey's only got the potential to be 1 game better than Jeff Ireland, post-Parcells. In the grand scheme of things, that's nothing special at all.

    In short, too many bad or unknown things for the grade to be higher than average for me.
     
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  10. MikeHoncho

    MikeHoncho -=| Censored |=-

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    If his signings were able to stay healthy an A.

    As it stands right now. B- to C+.

    Still, it is encouraging to have a competent person at the helm.
     
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  11. rafael

    rafael Well-Known Member

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    I would say it was pretty average overall. If Ireland had been retained and made the exact same moves most would be blasting him.
     
  12. Limbo

    Limbo Mad Stillz

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    I'd probably go C+

    He rolled the dice with a bunch of vet FAs with concerns about them being injury prone...and they all got injured, which may have undone our playoff hopes.

    Draft was fine. James and Landry will both be solid players, though probably not serious needle-movers. I'll be curious to watch Turner's development into next season, which could go a ways towards making this a really nice draft class.
     
  13. Tin Indian

    Tin Indian Rockin' The Bottom End Club Member

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    I don't understand that. Ireland was criminally negligent in the offensive line he sent us in with last year. They were terrible before and after bullygate. Hickey pretty much fixed the starting lineup in one offseason. Had Albert not been rolled up from behind this line would still be playing at a high level. Begs the question, how many players do you think can be changed effectively in one offseason?

    Ireland was great at wasting second round picks, that's about it.
     
  14. MrClean

    MrClean Inglourious Basterd Club Member

    That's sounds about right. The draft is too early to call. After next season, let's see where Tripp, Aikens, Turner, Fede, Williams, McCain, the Johnsons, Lynch, and Hazel are. If we get 2-4 significant contributors out of that bunch, it will all reflect well on Hickey.

    Same goes for Ireland's last draft. Right now we only have one really solid starter in Jenkins. Sims is on the come though. Jordan shows some good things. Let's see how much he improves next season. Also, by the end of next season, we should know much more about Taylor and Davis. Gillislee has sat on IR all season and he may even come back and surprise us.
     
  15. Tannedank

    Tannedank Banned

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    So true, I'll never understand the relentless Ireland hate. He built the core of this (imo) very solid roster. And I'd give Hickey a B i guess, way too early to tell, but Landry and James look like home runs and 2 home runs a year in this business is very solid, especially for year 1.
     
  16. Alex44

    Alex44 Boshosaurus Rex

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    The way Albert was injured wasn't due to being injury prone so he gets a pass, and Delmas more or less played until the season was over.

    HB D. Williams looks like a steal and Landry/James were hits that should be with the team a while.

    Moreno was low risk/high reward and its a shame his season was ended. However considering Miller and Williams look good its easier to swallow.

    All in all...a B-
     
  17. jw3102

    jw3102 season ticket holder

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    To me, you judge a draft and free agency signings based on if these added players help this team win more games this season than the team won the previous season.

    Right now with one game left to play, this team is either going to have the same record it had last year with a loss this coming Sunday, or one win more than last year if they beat the Jets.
    Last year the Dolphins were a very average team and that is basically what they have been this year with the new players added in the draft and in free agency.

    To me average equates to a grade of C and that is what I feel Hickey deserves in his first year as the teams GM.
     
  18. Canad-phin

    Canad-phin Active Member

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    Just the UDFAs and late round picks should get him a C. D.Williams, A. Johnson, Tripp, Fede. These guys all seen the field or at least showed potential to be on the team. Let's hope guys like Tripp, Johnson, Fede, Aikens, and Turner can develop in their second year like Jenkins. I think of these older guys who are progress stoppers will be gone.

    The oline if Turner can develop will have 4 solid players with one guard needed, level 1 need. So FA or draft is an option. Plus we need depth.

    If they move Jordan to SLB and get him to lose some weight and have Jenkins at WLB, with Misi at MLB and him leaving the field on passing downs I think LBs are ok, if we could upgrade Misi that would be good but I don't feel it's a huge need but a level 2 need.

    Odrick I think resigns, Starks, Finnegan, Ellerbe, Wheeler, Hartline and Gibson are all goners, that gives us cap space. Do we make a play for Suh?? If we did Odrick would not be resigned either.

    Depending on on the draft but I think CB or WR are the first round targets, guard and MLB are 2nd rd targets, then fill in for, there. Though if there is a safety that grades high, maybe the choice.
     
  19. rafael

    rafael Well-Known Member

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    I also like Fede's potential. James was the very safe pick. CK called it going for a single and getting it, which I thought was an apt analogy. Landry was a nice pick even if he may never be more than a slot. The rest of the draft looks similar to how the typical Ireland draft looks after year one. Not addressing line and CB issues was just as poor as what Ireland usually did. Even the Satele signing was far from proactive. There was no reason for it to take that long when you knew Pouncey would be out and Satele was basically the consensus only option. This isn't meant to bash Hickey. I thought he was about average. But I also thought Ireland was usually about average. You generally hope for two starters and some temporary depth out of each draft. You get that and that's a good year. Looking back a couple of drafts ago, taking Tannehill, Vernon and Miller seems like a nice haul for a draft. The year before that Pouncey and Clay were good picks. So while Ireland needed to be gone for other reasons, he wasn't as bad at player acquisition as the rhetoric would imply.
     
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  20. Dol-Fan Dupree

    Dol-Fan Dupree Tank? Who is Tank? I am Guy Incognito.

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    My grade is free agency, C. He brought in Albert, yet he was over priced and could have at least tried to get Sebatian for cheaper. All other LT potentials did suck. Delmas was a fine player. Moreno was a fine player, but got injured in second game. Honestly shouldn't have even played that game anyway, however that is on the coaches. He did sign Satale and College(who I think sucks!), which does show that he is willing to put ego aside for the team. Shepard was a pretty decent signing as well.

    For the draft I give him a solid B. He had two players who started and contributed. That is great for a first year of a draft. One has probowl potential at right tackle and the other looks to be a solid wide receiver who can be an emotional leader. The rest of his draft is pure potential. Turner, Fede, Tripp, Aikens, and even Lynch may turn out to be good players. Heck, I think Fede is going to be close to great once he actually learns how to play, however they did not do much. D. Williams for the most part was disappointing, and for all the complaining about Daniel Thomas, Williams was worse than him as a rookie. Chris McCain looks really athletic, however injuries really derailed any help he was able to show. Anthony Johnson might turn out to be a good rotational defensive linemen.

    Pretty much the only reason I give him a B for the draft is because finding two solid starters is pretty good. Especially since James and Landry were actually good at their position and not, "good for rookies."
     
  21. Dol-Fan Dupree

    Dol-Fan Dupree Tank? Who is Tank? I am Guy Incognito.

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    I agree. Ireland was pretty decent at finding talent in the draft. I remember at one point his drafts had the most players still in the NFL. Unfortunately most didn't fit the Dolphins as they were on other teams. He was bad at team building.

    Imo, it really shows in this draft. http://grantland.com/the-triangle/2009-nfl-draft-may-be-the-worst-ever/ 2009 is the worst draft in the history of drafts to some people.

    In 2009 Ireland was able to select a probowl Corner in Vontae Davis, a good solid #2 Corner in Sean Smith , A solid #2 wide receiver in Brian Hartline, Chris Clemons who I don't know why he isn't at least on a roster right now and Andrew Garner who is a Lineman for the Eagles.
     
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  22. ckparrothead

    ckparrothead Draft Forum Moderator Luxury Box

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    With respect to the draft, the grade to be given here is an incomplete. It has to be.

    Look at the last few drafts by Jeff Ireland. The immediate reactions on the 2012 & 2013 drafts were both positive (except for me, was positive on 2012 and negative on 2013). But then for a while both drafts looked sucky.

    Now you look back on 2012 and you have Ryan Tannehill, Olivier Vernon, Lamar Miller and Rishard Matthews and suddenly that's looking like somewhere between a "success" and "franchise altering" draft.

    And of course the 2013 draft was deemed after a year to be dreadful on an historical level relative to the amount of draft ammunition into which we entered that draft. Now you look at it and it's still poor but Jelani Jenkins has turned into a 1000 snap linebacker that should expect to start for this defense for years, Caleb Sturgis is still hanging on as kicker, Dion Sims is showing nice improvement and actually making impacts, and then we're still gonna see on Dion Jordan and Jamar Taylor. Basically just pointing out, another year and the draft suddenly may not be awful on an historic level.

    Same could be said of 2014 even perhaps in the opposite direction. This time next year we could be wondering why Jarvis Landry can't catch anything but 5 yard passes, and why nobody else from that draft can even get on the field except JaWuan James who is "just" a right tackle. Or, Branden Albert could continue to get hurt making JaWuan James our left tackle, he could start playing that spot far better than he has in 2014, Terrance Fede could somehow get on the field due to injury and look like a star in the making, and Billy Turner could be a full year starter. Then you're like, god damn that draft was good!
     
  23. LBsFinest

    LBsFinest Banned

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    C+.
     
  24. Bumrush

    Bumrush Stable Genius Club Member

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    I also expect big things out of McCain and Aikens. Some of the potential Aikens showed in his limited playing time really impressed me. You can also argue that Philbin is averse to playing some of this young talent and is hampering their ability to make an immediate impact. Heck it took injuries for Jenkins to see the field. The Harbaugh pipe dream had me real excited at the possibility of an all out youth movement but so much for that.
     
  25. RoninFin4

    RoninFin4 Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    Clemons signed with Arizona a few weeks back.
     
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  26. RoninFin4

    RoninFin4 Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    I think they need to settle on a position with Aikens. I was under the impression he was practicing at S up to the point that Finnegan and Davis got injured, then he took some reps at CB. He was on the Finsiders a few weeks back and said he's been switching up all year. To me, that's disappointing, and I hope they find a spot for him, preferably at S.

    McCain seems like he's got a lot potential, but damn, he was almost always nicked up throughout the season.
     
  27. Vertical Limit

    Vertical Limit Senior Member

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    Soliai? Ive watched about five or six Falcons games this season and trust me we arent missing him.. He misses our defensive ends more so than we miss him.
     
  28. MrClean

    MrClean Inglourious Basterd Club Member

    Someone posted that the Cards signed him a few days before Delmas got hurt.
     
  29. speed

    speed Banned

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    If not for Odell Beckam Jr., Landry would be ROTY.

    For that he gets a B+
     
  30. speed

    speed Banned

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    I never had any desire to even know where Serbia was...till now.
     
  31. Dol-Fan Dupree

    Dol-Fan Dupree Tank? Who is Tank? I am Guy Incognito.

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    I forgot about that.

    Still, he is now on a roster. Which makes my point even better.
     
  32. Dol-Fan Dupree

    Dol-Fan Dupree Tank? Who is Tank? I am Guy Incognito.

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    I think Mike Evans would beat him out.
     
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  33. speed

    speed Banned

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    Hmmmm....kind of forgot him lol
     
  34. MrClean

    MrClean Inglourious Basterd Club Member

    Who knows what the mutual feelings are behind the scenes, but it seemed logical to me for us to have signed him as soon as Houston cut him at the end of camp. He could have started instead of Wilson for the first 4 weeks and then been a solid backup and ST player until Delmas got hurt.
     
  35. 77FinFan

    77FinFan Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    For this years draft I have to give him an A. Two starters out of 7 who are really strong players is good enough for me. Maybe I should raise my standards, but I believe that to be very solid.

    FA? Hugely impacted by injuries, but was really happy w/ Moreno for one game, Albert for 12 games (?), Delmas, Mitchell. Maybe C+.

    I wonder how he would grade himself?
     
  36. brandon27

    brandon27 Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    This pretty much sums it up for me as well. Spot on analysis IMO.

    Albert is a good signing for sure, but the chances of him being injured were pretty high. I know it was a pretty odd play, but he still ended up on IR.

    Delmas... I know someone here said he made it the whole season almost... but the fact remains, health has been his problem all along. You had to expect it.

    He gambled. Gambled well, it just didn't pay off, but I think we all should have known/expected that going in. So, with that being the case, the lack of depth at those positions is pretty concerning.

    Hitting on Landry and James though is a big plus for his grade. Even though it looks so far that James might be a career RT.

    Either way, like I said, I agree with this analysis.
     
  37. Pandarilla

    Pandarilla Purist Emeritus

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    Offseason grade was an easy A. You guys all questioned the Finnegan acquisition and it was a ballsy move based on a lot of criteria. Jason Fox looks like the right move, despite our head coach. Glad we got to at least see what a playmaker looks like in Delmas at safety for a change. Mitchell is good. Love his undrafted rookie class, D Williams, McCain, Hoskins.

    Still a bit slow to anticipate in midseason. So was Ireland, though. It's like there is some sort of brain cloud that comes with that job (maybe Ross). We had at least ten posters for the last five years with better contingency plans when our online got injured midseason than what panned out for us in reality.

    He did a great job. I'm intrigued to see what he does this offseason.
     
  38. Fin D

    Fin D Sigh

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    You have to sign a guy that travels into the future.

    I mean, i guess we already did?!?!?!??!




    lol.
     
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  39. StillyStiff

    StillyStiff New Member

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    He hit on his first 2 picks of the draft... something we havn't seen in a loooooong time. Couple that with Free Agency and our UDA's... Solid A... Great start, couldn't expect more in 1 year
     
  40. ToddPhin

    ToddPhin Premium Member Luxury Box Club Member

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    No he wouldn't. Jeremy Hill would be next, followed by Mike Evans, Kelvin Benjamin, and Sammy Watkins, and he'd still have to fight off Jordan Matthews and Derek Carr.
     

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