This is a good pick in the third round

New Orleans Saints take defensive tackle Akiem Hicks in third round of NFL draft - New Orleans Saints Football NFL News - NOLA.com

New Orleans Saints draft analysis: Saints go with raw prospect with their first pick - NFL - Sporting News

I trust mickey and co

I do understand your sentiment and I agree with you on it, but there's a difference in picking the BPA and picking the BPA with an emphasis on need.

I have to think that Hicks was the BPA for the Saints among the positions of need they had decided to target before the draft, and so I have to think that the Saints staff and FO saw in him something that in their opinion warranted the 3rd round pick. The GMs and the FOs in general know more about the other teams' interests and plans than we probably give them credit for, and there might've been a strong inclination that some other team would've pulled the trigger on Hicks before the Saints' 4th round pick.

In light of these conclusions, whether their right or wrong, I do feel good about this pick even though I would've never thought back in February that Hicks would be picked as high as in the late 3rd round.


Just to further strengthen my point, this is from the other thread, the press conference with Vitt and Spags about Hicks:

http://www.neworleanssaints.com/news...8-3995feacdb09



Naturally, they aren't going to say that anything negative about the pick, but it would seem that he was the BPA in a need position for the Saints.

I was a little surprised with the pick because I had no idea who the hell the guy was. He does look like a work in progress but I believe he will adapt quickly. I agree with previous posters that we need to get pressure on the D line so either this or cornerback would have been a good choice.

I hope L Green from UL is still on the board in the 4th so we can snatch him up.

Great character kid. that's what will make him great, he respects what he has and works hard for it.

I have to agree with you. He was a reach in the 3rd. I've read many who say he'd have been there in the 4th and maybe even the 5th.

I don't dislike the pick because he does have some awesome potential, but it appears there were better players on most boards. I also trust the new staff. There's something they really like in this guy so they nabbed him.

I do feel that the absense of a 1st and 2nd round pick probably forced us to factor need into the equation more than we normally do.

The guy is raw, but his upside is off the charts, and we have a defensive coach with an eye for D-linemen and the talent to coach them to their potential.

Right now I'd grade the pick a B-minus, but most of us can't name 20 players strengths and weaknesses once we look outside of the SEC.

hmm... Saints offense the last 6 years: 1, 4, 1, 1, 6 (with Drew playing on a bad knee), and un-freaking-believable.

On the other hand, the Saints defense the last 6 years, other than 2009 with all the turnovers which kept giving the ball back to the best O in football, nnnnnot so hot, especially after 2 consecutive playoff meltdowns, lest we forget Lynch ginsu'ing the D in 2010, and not being able to stop Joe Montana in 4 consecutive drives last year. Oh, wait, that was Alex Smith.. my bad.

If Spagnuolo wants this young man, let him have it.

"Saints Pick Akeim Hicks DT"

All I have to say about this pick is:

Eat **** Goodell, and suck on that!

I agree for the most part with everything you said EXCEPT the last paragraph. I think you are dead wrong.

How do you figure he doesn't have the greatest attitude? Considering what happened at LSU, I think he is VERY humble.

He is EXACTLY a blue collar player. He had high hopes of playing for one of the best college football programs in the country and through no fault of his own, was taken away from him. He had to go to Canada for crying out loud!! To even be invited to the combine speaks VOLUMES on this guys heart and work ethic.

How do you figure he doesn't work hard 100% of the time? Do you have inside info on this guy none of us have seen?

It's one thing to not like a player/pick but don't start making things up that, from what we have seen on this guy, he has all the physical tools to be successfull NFL, just needs some technique work.

Don't forget the rhinoceros head sitting on the table here. We may need him sooner than we think once godell finally ends his long term back door Saints screwing.

Les Miles says he is a great pick for the Saints and will come in and produce right away.

They were comparing him to Michael Brockers and say he would have went in the first round if he could have stayed at LSU...

That's one good addition on the Dline. Now give me another DT or CB!

BIG!

I don't make things up, and I really get tired of being accused of such. What I have read about him is that he doesn't play through the whistle consistently, he has bad technique, which wouldn't be a problem if he worked harder, and that he has some character issues.

I believe people can change, and am hoping he will. But that is the book on him right now, not according to me, but according to people who evaluate players for a living. I am not a negative guy, so I wouldn't just randomly make up something bad about a player on my team.

Do not ever accuse me of making things up about my team.

Well please by all means, post the links to these things you say because everything I have read had said the opposite.

I think we can all agree that the Saints wanted him or they wouldn't have taken him. I am only giving my opinion on a pick that I did not personally care for. I think he has potential but I don't agree with the Saints grade on him.

I understand that we have a great offense, and I mentioned that in a reply to someone else on here. But we have already upgraded quite a bit through free agency on the defensive side of the ball, so I don't see a glaring need there. I do agree, of course, that we need more help on defense still, than we do on offense. But we have weak offensive tackles who almost got drew killed against the Rams, and forced the Saints to come up with a new blocking scheme to help those guys out. If anything happens to Drew, you can forget about the offense, so don't you want to keep him upright? I'm not saying we had to select Massie, but I thought he was more of a sure thing than Hicks. We upgraded at DT with Bunkley, and we could use some depth there, but what sort of depth do we have at OT?

If we had a pick in the first two rounds then absolutely we could have gotten a more proven impact defensive player, and that would have been great. But now we just have to hope that Hicks works out. Remember Jonathan Sullivan? Al Woods, Demario Pressley, Sedrick Ellis? The Saints have done a poor job drafting DT's and Ellis is the only guy who wasn't a complete flop. Then they sign Franklin and Rogers last year and that bombed.

So pardon me if I don't just bow to the Saints and automatically trust them when they Draft a guy like this. I love the Saints, and think they are brilliant with most things, but this is an area where I will be skeptical until given a reason not to be.

I'll give you one thing Metal, I would have liked the Massie pick in the 3rd then the Hicks pick. I highly doubt he was on ANYBODIES radar in the 3rd round.

Then again, like mentioned by Papz, what do we as fans know? I kinda like the pick if for no other reason, there was no hype with him. Guy's we have gotten with hype have been crap. So maybe a little reverse psychology is play here :)

We'll see Mike. I hope he becomes the greatest lineman we've ever had.

Here are a couple links as to what I was talking about with Hicks. and again, I am pulling for this guy, but I'm going on what I know about him so far:

Akiem Hicks, Regina, NFL Draft - CBSSports.com - NFLDraftScout.com

DT Akiem Hicks Scouting Report | Buffalo Bills Draft

It seems that some scouts have different views as to where the character concerns come from, but they agree that he seems to get frustrated and not play hard through the whistle if he isn't successful just mauling the guy in front of him. And that's a potential problem considering he was going up against nobody. If he keeps his motor running, he'll be alright.

This guy wasn't drafted to be a pro bowler tomorrow.

This kids is a developmental project.

Ok well these character concerns they speak of, they do very vague. We know what the deal was with LSU. How is that a character concern on his part? I don't get that.

Sounds like the things he is weak on is things he can be taught. Guess we will see how he pans out.

Its kind of hard to play thru the whistle when you have the guy wrapped up on the ground on top of him already before the whistle blows. Unless you want him to be another Suh.

These character concerns they speak of?

LSU provided him with transportation, reduced housing costs, while they were recruiting him. How is that character concerns, if LSU paid to get him to the campus and pay his hotel room?

That's what one source says, but others aren't saying anything about what happened at LSU, so that is up in the air as far as what character problems he may have. But it's the lack of hustle that bothers me.

Clearly you didn't read the scouting report I just posted. Or you completely ignored the part where it says that he struggles at times to shed blocks and tends to give up after that. So instead of giving me a ridiculous remark about him "already having the guy wrapped up on the ground before the whistle blows", how about just reading the facts on this kid and then explain to me why I am wrong?

You can teach technique, but commitment and hustle is up to the player.

I get where you are coming from and I totally understand your concern. I am choosing to look at it like this:

Had he gone to LSU and got coached by Chavez, he probably would have been a first rounder. Which means we would have never been able to get him.

How many players get invited to the combine from Canada? That to me speaks well of him. I am quite sure they took into consideration the talent level up there and they still invited him.

I am not expecting much, if anything from him this year. He has a lot of learning to do to be successful on the NFL level. I think his upside far outweighs his downside. JMO

11 minute highlight video of him

Hey Metal, stop reading scouting reports and watch video on the kid. He looks pretty damn good and the guy is gonna get stronger. I love the fact that he looked great in the east/west shrine game practice.

Believe me, I have watched video, and it backs up what they say. Can dominate, but can get lazy.

I don't know what more I can say. If you don't agree with me, then fine. I don't begrudge anyone for that. But don't assume I don't know what I'm talking about.

Awesome. We got our own Suh!
He's a beast!

LMAO...

Ok that is the funniest thing I have heard in awhile... "READ THE FACTS".

Sorry I don't believe other people's crap on the internet. I tend to watch games and draw conclusions myself.

Its not up in the air... that is the reason he wasn't allowed to play at LSU.

EXACTLY.

My response was directed to the comment you made about OT being a bigger need than defense. Yes, "serviceable" OTs, who are part of the best offense in football the last 6 years.

And yes, I remember the Sullivans, the Grants, the Dunbars, the Bates, the Kings... I remember a lot of players from waaaaaaayyy back. I'm old, you know?

And as for "flopping" on defensive picks, was it the players or the coaching?
Because Abrayo Franklin was damn good in SF, and Rodgers dominated games in Cleveland. And you can't have your cake and eat it too. You can't say the Saints have done a bad job of choosing DTs on one sentence, then on the other say they have upgraded the line enough... how can they upgrade enough if they suck at picking DTs? If they are that bad at picking DT talent, better get as many as they can in there, no?

Anyway, you can be as skeptical as you want and make too much ado about draft picks like a great number of NFL fans, especially after reading some scouting reports and watching clips on youtube (because reallly, have you ever seen a complete game played by Hicks?).

Personally, I really don't care that much about the draft and all the hype that comes with it, who picks who on what round, the grades, winners and losers, etc...

And yes, bow down to Loomistofeles!

You completely missed my point. Please read one of my one thousand replies to everyone who thinks I said we needed an offensive player more than defense. That is clearly NOT what I said. I said OT was a weak spot for the Saints and that I believed Bobby Massie, who was still available, would have been a better choice than taking a chance on a project guy. No player is a sure fire thing in the draft, but I didn't find DT to be such a great need that we had to pass on a very highly rated player like Massie. If there had been a DT who I thought was worthy of being picked over him, I would not have had a problem with that. And maybe Hicks will be great, but this is just my opinion based on what I've seen and heard so far.

And yes, I have seen film of him. I did read the scouting reports, and as I said in another reply to someone, I followed that up by watching footage of him, to see what they were talking about. What I saw was a guy who was talented but he did at times seem give up on plays a bit. It's not that I didn't want him at all, I just didn't like him in the 3rd. And yes, it is possible that they thought someone else would get him if they didn't select him right away, but I was really high on Massie at that point. Couldn't believe he was still on the board.

And I feel like Bunkley was a real upgrade because he is not only an established player, but he isn't a washed up project like Rogers was. And Franklin just didn't fit the system. Bunkley does. But the overwhelming majority of the time, the Saints have been bad at evaluating DT's.

And those offensive tackles have not been starters for the last 6 years. It was Jamaal Brown and Jon Stinchcomb for a good while. Now, when we go up against teams like the 49ers, Ravens, even the freaking Rams, our tackles struggle mightily and Drew is running for his life. Of course the Saints have a great offense, but for how long if Drew is getting blindsided?

Yes that is the reason he was ineligible at LSU, I know this very well.

I said it was up in the air as to what all character concerns he may have, as there haven't been many specifics other than a couple scouts mentioning the LSU episode. I don't know for sure what personal issues he has, if any, so I'll wait and see what he does. But as I've said countless times on here, I mainly don't like his lack of a consistent motor on the field. That goes beyond the skill aspect, and brings up the question of whether or not he'll have the drive to succeed against what will be astronomically better competition. That is all.

Its possible that Hicks could be a bust, but most drafts are anyways. I actually like this pick. All DL from college have no idea how to deal with a professional NFL OL. They all need to be built from the ground up again.
Hicks was rated high on the Saints draft board because of the possibility he possess. He was rated high on the patriots draft board also.
He has excellent size,speed, and arm strength.
If he listens , learns , and has discipline he could be one of the better DT's in the NFL. I mean smith was drafted high, and look what that got us. Smith is ok, but not for the money we are paying him. Playing against one of the better OL's in the NFL, Hicks is going to get a good workout.
He does seem to need to be in better shape, but I like the raw abilities he has. I doubt we will know what he can do until next season anyway.

I like his lateral movement. His frame looks like it could hold a few more pounds. I can't remember if Spags likes'em lean or not. Does seem to tend to tackle high. He'll really need to get to hatin' the green and playing football when the temp's above zero though.

No, I got that. But the d-line and DT in particular is a much weaker spot than the o-line. The o-line, even with all the changes, has been very consistent the last 6 years: going off the top of my head, the o-line has gone through 4 centers, 4 LTs, 2 RT, 3 guards, and still, they produce. With all those changes, the Saints still fielded the best offense the last 6 years combined as reflected by points scored, number of sacks allowed, yards gained, etc; unlike the defense which, again, except for the one year when their trick was creating turnovers and giving the ball back to the best offense in football, have not been able to stop anyone.

What's the point of (debatable) "solidifying" the best offense in the business, if the defense still lets the likes of Alex Smith slice them and dice them for 4 consecutive drives in the 4th quarter of a playoff game?

If Drew goes down, all is lost? Ok. Sure. but with Drew at his best, the Saints still could not get past the divisional round of the playoffs because the defense could not stop anyone, and were a tad too close to letting Stafford and Megatron steal one in the Dome.

Is Hicks a "project"? Maybe. But maybe not. We'll see.


And you didn't watch "film". You watched a couple clips on youtube. Come on.