ESPN’s May: Massie is fine, Cardinals could have done more
May 1, 2012, 6:31 PM | Updated: 8:13 pm
A lot of people were surprised to see Mississippi tackle
Bobby Massie fall to the Cardinals in the fourth round of
the NFL Draft.
Projected by some to go as high as the second round, he
was the first lineman taken by a Cardinals team that could
use some help at the position.
And, while no one is questioning the selection’s value,
ESPN college football analyst Mark May says the Cardinals
should have done more.
“Here’s a player that wouldn’t have fallen to the fourth
round unless there were red flags,” May told Arizona
Sports 620’s Burns and Gambo Tuesday. “The Cardinals got
him, and this is a team that gave up 54 sacks last year.
“I thought that they might have found a way to address the
offensive line a little earlier in the draft, even trading
some picks away from next year to move up in the draft
this year.”
The Cardinals, remember, did not have a second round pick
this year due to including it in the Kevin Kolb trade last
summer, meaning they didn’t have much of a shot at some of
the bigger-name tackles who fell to the second round.
“I know when you’ve got Michael Floyd sitting there,
you’ve got to get him,” May said of the team’s first round
choice. “But then you’ve got to become creative in the
draft, and I was surprised that (Cardinals GM) Rod Graves
and his crew weren’t creative enough to get into that
second round some place, or even earlier in the third
round to get an offensive lineman there.”
So, they got Massie, who at 6-foot-6 and 316 pounds could
end up being one of the draft’s bigger steals. He played
against some of the country’s best defenders in college,
meaning experience could be an advantage early in his
career.
“He should have a step ahead of most offensive linemen
just going against the competition that he’s gone against
in the SEC,” May said. “Hopefully Russ Grimm will be able
to take this player…and hopefully he’s an overachiever,
because that’s what the Cardinals are looking for.”
