With the NFL Draft just around the corner, the sports media types here in North Carolina have decided to take a closer look at Marty Hurney's draft record as general manager of the Carolina Panthers. They don't like what they see.The good news is that all six of Hurney's 1st-round picks -- Julius Peppers, Jordan Gross, Chris Gamble, Thomas Davis, DeAngelo Williams and Jon Beason -- are currently starters and have ranged from solid contributors to Pro Bowlers. That's better than a lot of other teams have done between 2002 and 2007. (*cough*Detroit*cough*)
The bad news? Hurney's 2nd-round and 3rd-round picks have been rather ugly. Out of 16 players picked by Hurney, only five are still with the team, and only two (Travelle Wharton and Ryan Kalil) are sure to be starters next year. Richard Marshall is a spot starter at cornerback, Charles Johnson is expected to compete for Mike Rucker's defensive end spot, and Dwayne Jarrett ... well, at the moment, he seems to have that Eric Shelton smell about him. I don't think Hurney went out and signed D.J. Hackett and Muhsin Muhammad for no reason.
To be fair, two potential starters (Will Witherspoon and Ricky Manning Jr.) left via free agency. The rest either weren't good enough or were ruined by injury. The Charlotte Observer was also quick to point out that the Panthers chose Iowa guard Bruce Nelson (and his degenerative hip) ahead of both Anquan Boldin and Osi Umemyiora -- as if to imply this was tantamount to drafting Sam Bowie over Michael Jordan.
Clearly, there's only one real solution for Hurney here. He has to use a 2nd-round and 3rd-round pick this year to trade up into the 1st round. That may the only way the Panthers will get a productive player out of those picks...
Okay, that's a joke, but really, it might not be such a terrible idea, either. If the first day of the draft ended with Carolina landing, say, Derrick Harvey and Gosder Cherilus, or Ryan Clady and either Kentwan Balmer or Jonathan Stewart, would anyone complain?
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Reader Comments ( Page 1 of 1)
1. I'd rather us trade back in the first round to get Brian Brohm.
Posted at 8:33AM on Apr 22nd 2008 by Justin
2. I know it's cheap to take a shot at how someone looks, but this picture of Hurney looks like he's a manager at Bi-Lo, not the GM of a pro football team. His draft recird kind of bears that out, too. I'm looking forward to a few big names sliding to pick 13 (Ryan Clady, maybe?); if the right guy slides to the bottom half of the top ten I wouldn't be surprised if the Panthers try to move up to grab what they need. Although, it might be smart to stay where they are and then use both third rounders on DL prospects. 24 hours from now, we'll know a lot more.... ;)
Posted at 8:48PM on Apr 25th 2008 by Harrison