Bobby Massie is ‘the prototypical right tackle’
May 2, 2012, 10:24 PM | Updated: May 3, 2012, 10:33 pm
The Arizona Cardinals would be hard pressed to be anymore
excited about their fourth round pick in this year’s
draft.
Bobby Massie, who they selected out of Mississippi, was
projected to go as high as the second round. That he fell
to the Cardinals in the fourth is a gift the team was
happy to receive.
“You don’t find 6’6″, 325 lb lineman with athleticism and
long arms growing on trees,” newly-appointed Vice
President of Player Personnel Steve Keim told Arizona
Sports 620’s Doug and Wolf. “We were fortunate to find
that he was still available at pick 112.”
Indeed.
The offensive line has long been a concern for the team,
and many were shocked they didn’t address the position
early in the draft.
The Cardinals instead kept true to their draft board,
landing them players like Michael Floyd and Jamell Fleming
prior to nabbing Massie.
But, if the tackle is as good as the team thinks he can
be, they’ll have themselves a bookend for many years to
come, possibly even at left tackle — but that would be
down the road.
“He certainly has the mobility and the movement skills
that rival many of the offensive tackles that I’ve seen
play on the left side at our level,” Keim said. “So I
certainly wouldn’t count it out, but I think to bring him
in right away, he’s the prototypical right tackle.
“He’s long, he engulfs people at the point, he’s got a
degree of explosiveness through his hips. He’s a fun guy
to watch.”
The Cardinals may be banking on watching Massie play this
season, as there’s a good chance he’ll be needed to
replace former right tackle Brandon Keith.