Akiem [Hicks] opens up about his bitterness (1 Viewer)

[rsmith2783]

There are some on this forum who get testy when a player goes to another team and dares to still have something left in the tank (Sproles) or, God forbid, be better than they were here (Jenkins, Hicks and Ivory).

I first really noticed that with Ivory in 2013. When it was pointed out that he was doing pretty well with the Jets, some immediately got defensive with "well why don't you just go join a Jets forum ???" It was ok, of course, to say that Ivory was injury prone....couldn't block...couldn't catch.....and that getting rid of him was the ideal move...........that was totally cool.

Nevertheless, if we're looking at like 5 or 6 players who went on to be as good or better elsewhere.........over the course of 13 seasons.........that's still a pretty good indicator that our staff USUALLY gets it right with who they allow to walk.

I know all too well of the group that you're referring to. Those are the homers, black and gold glasses, Coach knows best, etc...

I agree that over 13 seasons, it's a good number of who they allowed to walk, etc. However those moves after the 2013 season hurt the team for a long time.

One could argue that if we would have held that line in check, we wouldn't be searching for a DT every year. . In 2013 we had Hicks, Tyrunn Walker, Tom Johnson , Bunkley, John Jenkins. That was a pretty good line

 

[Alan12]

Sometimes, fans aren't wrong. Many of us couldn't figure out why they tried to turn Hicks into a 3-4 DE.

It’s not exactly that the fans or team were wrong, the thing I don’t get is he’s so bent out of shape about having to play DE in a 34 here, yet he’s a 34 DE in Chicago right now and he’s just peachy about it? What gives?

I don’t think it was the switch to a 34 DE at all, I think he just didn’t want to play on the right side at RDE. My reasoning being looking at Bears film, he lines up almost exclusively on the left side (the offense’s right) and as we all know, in our defense, that LDE position is occupied by THIS man on most if not all snaps...

I’ll keep Cam at the LDE position personally.

 

[rsmith2783]

It’s not exactly that the fans or team were wrong, the thing I don’t get is he’s so bent out of shape about having to play DE in a 34 here, yet he’s a 34 DE in Chicago right now and he’s just peachy about it? What gives?

I don’t think it was the switch to a 34 DE at all, I think he just didn’t want to play on the right side at RDE. My reasoning being looking at Bears film, he lines up almost exclusively on the left side (the offense’s right) and as we all know, in our defense, that LDE position is occupied by THIS man on most if not all snaps...

I’ll keep Cam at the LDE position personally.

I wish I had the quote, or the audio but Zach Strief broke it down a few times. In a nutshell it came down to what Hicks was asked to do, and it wasn't to his strength.

 

[Alan12]

I wish I had the quote, or the audio but Zach Strief broke it down a few times. In a nutshell it came down to what Hicks was asked to do, and it wasn't to his strength.

That's fair enough, I understand it wasn't to his strengths, but the spot he's currently playing really well in, which is to his strengths, was already occupied by an obviously better player during his tenure here. He can't realistically expect the team to move Jordan to the weakside so he can play at LDE just because that's where he's better, especially if it's a detriment to the defense's success. Jordan is the anchor of this defense.

So it was either: a.) be Jordan's backup at LDE and get very limited snaps in relief of him or when Jordan occasionally kicked inside, or b.) remain as a starter, but having to play another position and one that he likely wouldn't be as successful in.

I agree with Hicks though that them benching him in favor of Richardson was an absurdly idiotic move considering the difference in experience and size.

 

[Icon]

As I have stated numerous times the 2013 defense was overrated by a mile.

Was it really, though?

On paper, I could see why some might conclude that........2012's defense was statistically dreadful...........then suddenly 2013 was top 5....then 2014/2015/2016 were what they were.

It could make some think we were like the blind hog who stumbled across an acorn in 2013...........or the sun shining on a dog's arse occasionally........or whatever analogy one wants to use to imply overrated/briefly lucky.

But the 2013 defense still had multiple holdovers from the SB defense, along with Cam Jordan and Junior Galette (say what you will about him, but his 2013 season was the reason he got a contract) coming off the edges. Not to mention Keenan Lewis, who at that point was a lockdown corner..........and Vacarro as the 3rd part of that 3-safety set, which seemed to be effective. For the majority of that season, teams didn't score over 20 points on the Saints.

That just doesn't strike me as over-rated.............or a team playing above their abilities. To me that would be more like 2006 Saints defense........which somehow managed to convince people that they were a Fred Thomas replacement away from winning a SB. In reality, they were what they were.......a patchwork defense with 3 new linebackers put in place like a week before the regular reason that played hard and overachieved.

Losing 4 starters from that SB defense and being on the losing end of gambles on Jairus Byrd and Champ Bailey had more to do with 2014's regression than any type of "oh, they were overrated to begin with, and they came back down to earth" conclusion.

 

[Stanky Cheese]

Rob Ryan was the worst thing to ever happen to the saints. Everything he touched got worse.

Two words - Mike Ditka. I win.

 

[dapperdan]

Two words - Mike Ditka. I win.

Under Ditka we had no chance. With RR he wasted three prime years of Drew Brees. All this thread has done is remind me that RR may end up being the greatest con man ever.

 

[Alan12]

Under Ditka we had no chance. With RR he wasted three prime years of Drew Brees. All this thread has done is remind me that RR may end up being the greatest con man ever.

And he still had a far better defense here in 2013 than Spagnuolo did in 2012. And again, it was only a year and a half of Brees’ time that was “wasted” with Ryan here. And if we’re going to get technical, the signing and determination to keep Browner on the field during 2015 can’t even be pinned on Ryan either.

Did ole Rob eat nachos off your wife or something that you’re this bitter towards him and refuse to let it go?