Panthers Draft History Review
by Jaxon on Apr 12, 2008 10:51 AM EDT
in Panther News
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PrintSince the Panthers have gone into the bunker until the draft, there’s no real news to discuss. Instead I find myself hoping the Panthers can land some gems in the later rounds of the April 26th draft. In GM Marty Hurney’s era he has done fairly well in the 1st round, landing seven six straight starters and two Pro Bowlers.
2007 – Jon Beason
2006 – DeAngelo Williams
2005 – Thomas Davis
2004 – Chris Gamble
2003 – Jordan Gross
2002 – Julius Peppers (PB)
2001 – Dan Morgan (PB)
There are a lot of GM’s who can only wish they had done as well as Hurney in the 1st round. He hasn’t done as well in the 2nd round though. Here’s a list of Hurney’s 2nd round picks:
2007 – Dwayne Jarrett, Ryan Kalil
2006 – Richard Marshall
2005 – Eric Shelton
2004 – Keary Colbert
2003 – Bruce Nelson
2002 – DeShaun Foster
2001 – Kris Jenkins (PB)
He’s got a couple busts in Shelton and Nelson but he offsets that with a Pro Bowler and three starters (Colbert, Marshall, Foster). Finally, round three:
2007 – Charles Johnson
2006 – James Anderson, Rashad Butler
2005 – Evan Mathis, Atiyyah Ellison
2004 – Travelle Wharton
2003 – Mike Seidman, Ricky Manning Jr.
2002 – Will Witherspoon
2001 – Steve Smith (PB)
Smith is the obvious gem here with Witherspoon, Wharton and Manning Jr. adequate starters. Too bad we let Witherspoon and Manning get away, I really liked those guys. Who can forget Manning’s interception against the Rams to squash a Rams game-winning drive?
Yet I’m of the mindset that an elite NFL GM doesn’t just avoid the busts in the first round but they also land the gems in the later rounds. Here’s a list of the starters Hurney has landed in rounds 4 to 7:
2001 – Chris Weinke (5th)
2003 – Colin Branch (4th)
2005 – Drew Carter (5th)
2006 – Jeff King (5th)
That’s not a real impressive list so Hurney still has some legacy to build on here. Sure, that 2001 draft was one for the ages and Hurney can only pray he ever does that well again. Take my poll on the 2nd best Marty Hurney draft, behind of course the 2001 draft.
[Update: I made a gross error in this post by giving Hurney credit for the 2001 draft. Hat tip to r3 for pointing out my error. Please cut me a break I've had the flu all week :)]
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two double-aught one?
You're going to have to re-think your post, because 2001 the last year of George Seifert's reign. Marty Hurney, who was with the team as the salary cap manager from 1998, didn't assume GM duties until the 2002 draft.
According to his bio on the Panthers website:
When Marty Hurney assumed general manager duties in Carolina, the Panthers were coming off a 1-15 season.
Hurney joined the Panthers in 1998 from the San Diego Chargers and managed the salary cap under head coaches Dom Capers and George Seifert.
Anyway, more to the point, it's also worth noting how many players have made All-Star lists for Sports Illustrated, Sporting News or Associated Press. (What we call THE All-Star list is just the AP's list... no more or less valid than the others.) That number is three, if I'm not mistaken. Jon Beason made SI's last year, and I seem to recall Gross having made SI's list in 2003 or 2004. Obviously Peppers made all of them at least once.
So, not a bad record, and 2002 is his best draft, no doubt. Not a single problem with any of the top four picks. But there've been utter failures in at least one of the first three rounds from each of the other drafts (and 2007 looks like it could produce two more busts).
There's so much more to the job than the draft...
but I don't fully understand why we let Moose go when we did, and also Manning Jr (who had 3 INTs in a single playoff game), Marlon McCree (who's been in the playoffs every year that the Panthers haven't - with SD), and Will Witherspoon, a top tier NFL LB. I guess, obviously, that I would have to better understand our salary cap at those times, but I would rather overpay an all-star than get a mediocre guy at a bargain.
yesyesyes
Those personnel decisions are all good examples of decisions I generally would have made differently, but about which reasonable people could disagree.
I can certainly understand not wanting to overpay mediocre talent (McCree, Manning Jr.), but I would have kept McCree, trying to sign him to a three-year deal to add stability to safety. I agreed with shedding Manning in exchange for a third (decent value), since he needed a new contract and he wasn't a great tackler, took too many chances and bit on fakes too easily.
The Spoon/Morgan either/or situation was one where they came down on the side of superior talent with uncertain durability, and I can't fault them for that even though they gambled and lost. Moose, of course, took a very similar offer from Chicago rather than stay here, which I think had a lot to do with his ego and desire to be the number one receiver in a big market.
But you're right, there's a ton more to the job than just the draft, or even re-signing your own FAs. There's also bringing in the new talent, whether it's a bad signing (*cough* David Carr cough) or the good folks he dragged in off the waiver wire like Matt Moore and Jeremy Bridges, or the talent he traded for like Jason Baker and Chris Harris.
Overall, I'd say his track record is a mixed bag, with more hits than misses. Putting together a Super Bowl team and an NFC Championship team, along with a few mediocre seasons, aren't going to get him into the Hall Of Fame, but he's done a pretty respectable job.
by r3 on Apr 12, 2008 8:41 PM EDT up reply actions
Respectable...
That's the word I was searching for. He's done well enough to keep his job and warrant a modest raise. But he'd not setting the world on fire. He gets another chance to shine in two weeks.
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