Scott Fitterer.... let's grade his drafts and FA signings

[mrcompletely11]

Just now, t96 said:

If all we get out of last year's draft is a stud franchise LT who can keep our future rookie/young franchise QB upright his entire career, then it's a damn good draft for us. So far Ickey looks like he fits the part there, still need to see some development from him but can't complain at all about his rookie year.

1 starter out of a draft is a bad bad draft my brother

[Ricky Spanish]

4 minutes ago, Move the Panthers to Raleigh said:

Nah

[BullCityP]

20 minutes ago, mrcompletely11 said:

1 starter out of a draft is a bad bad draft my brother

I can definitely see Smith and Mays as starters next season.

[panthers55]

Too soon to judge the 2021 or 2022 draft. Common thinking is it takes 3 years to determine if someone is a bust or boom. Plus if you hit on half your draft picks and nail the first 2 or 3 rounds you have done a great job. As for free agency if you aren't making splashes signing big name players to big contracts you are looking for serviceable guys and often Jags for depth or starting if needed. 

Overall I think Fitterer has done a pretty decent job with the roster being much better than when he inherited it.

[trueblade]

2 hours ago, CashNewton22 said:

This thread is a bit premature. We don’t know the true balance of power between our last head coach and him…either one could have been the reason x or y player was selected. Now that Reich has come out and said Fitt is in control of the roster NOW we can actually judge. Also Perryman wasn’t a bad signing imo he balled out in Vegas.

 

1 hour ago, kungfoodude said:

1000%

This offseason will tell a lot of the story about Fitterer. If it looks a LOT like our previous drafts, then we can assume Fitt had a much greater influence on those drafts than we knew.

If the signings look a lot like the previous offseasons, same thing.

Let this play out. This would be a valid 2024 offseason thread.

Exactly. We're going to have to evaluate Rhule/Fitterer and Fitterer/Reich separately. You could even get more granular and really evaluate it as:

2021 - Rhule/Fitterer

2022 - Rhule/Fitterer/Morgan

2023 - Fitterer/Morgan/Reich

[onmyown]

Not only did Rhule hire Fitt, Fitt was willing to come to a team where a Baylor college coach was CEO and he basically just signed off on things.

You guys realize that isn’t how things work and not in a million years would any respectable GM come into a situation where a small college coach is the ‘CEO’ right?

Honestly, it’s a worse story than hiring a journalist to be your GM.

[kungfoodude]

17 minutes ago, trueblade said:

 

Exactly. We're going to have to evaluate Rhule/Fitterer and Fitterer/Reich separately. You could even get more granular and really evaluate it as:

2021 - Rhule/Fitterer

2022 - Rhule/Fitterer/Morgan

2023 - Fitterer/Morgan/Reich

Everything indicates Fitterer is the guy now. Since Rhule's firing(including the mid-season moves from this year) Fitterer is 100% responsible for all offseason aspects. He takes 100% of the blame and 100% of the credit. 

[Mr. Scot]

19 minutes ago, trueblade said:

Exactly. We're going to have to evaluate Rhule/Fitterer and Fitterer/Reich separately. You could even get more granular and really evaluate it as:

2021 - Rhule/Fitterer

2022 - Rhule/Fitterer/Morgan

2023 - Fitterer/Morgan/Reich

You always have to evaluate the combo.

1 minute ago, kungfoodude said:

Everything indicates Fitterer is the guy now. Since Rhule's firing(including the mid-season moves from this year) Fitterer is 100% responsible for all offseason aspects. He takes 100% of the blame and 100% of the credit. 

Sort of...

Fitterer's background is all in college scouting. Morgan's is in pro personnel. That's one reason why I think our free agency haul last season was better than the one that came mostly without him.

[kungfoodude]

2 minutes ago, Mr. Scot said:

You always have to evaluate the combo.

Sort of...

Fitterer's background is all in college scouting. Morgan's is in pro personnel. That's one reason why I think our free agency haul last season was better than the one that came mostly without him.

It's not a matter of background, it's a matter of role. Like any any company there is a hierarchy and responsibility comes with each level. Prior to Rhule's firing, Fitterer was an assistant GM at best. He is now the actual GM. So all the decisions coming from his department ultimately land on his plate. He is the guy that takes the blame.

[kungfoodude]

1 hour ago, Ricky Spanish said:

Guys, can we please just collectively get over Dan Arnold?

Dude was a JAG at best, had 7 catches through 3 games with us, no touchdowns, and blew his knee out after we traded him. We were really hurting for his *checks stats* 9 receptions for the Jags this past season.

Is CJ Henderson good? Not particularly, but we've gotten more miles out of him than the Jags have out of Arnold. 

The Darnold to Arnold connection was a media/fan construct for lulz, not based on actual production. 

Arnold will go down as a Ring of Honor JAG in Panthers history.

[Mr. Scot]

7 minutes ago, kungfoodude said:

It's not a matter of background, it's a matter of role. Like any any company there is a hierarchy and responsibility comes with each level. Prior to Rhule's firing, Fitterer was an assistant GM at best. He is now the actual GM. So all the decisions coming from his department ultimately land on his plate. He is the guy that takes the blame.

This is a case where I'd say their backgrounds help define their roles.

Back in Seattle, Fitterer and former Panther scout Trent Kirchner were co-directors of player personnel. Kirchner handled the pro personnel side while Fitterer concentrated on the draft. It's a similar arrangement to what the Saints had previously with Jeff Ireland and Terry Fontenot, though Ireland and Fontenot had actual Assistant GM titles.

Now, Fitterer is the guy in charge, but he would tell you that he, Morgan and now Reich are going to be heavily collaborative in their approach.

Edited February 2, 2023 by Mr. Scot

[t96]

1 hour ago, mrcompletely11 said:

1 starter out of a draft is a bad bad draft my brother

not if it's an elite player at one of the most important positions (pass rusher, LT, QB)

[GOAT]

hahaha some of your evaluations on here has me thinking you're not really paying attention during games. I know you're usually at games so you probably don't realize who is making what play vs when you watch on TV and they replay it and highlight the player though.

[KSpan]

24 minutes ago, onmyown said:

Not only did Rhule hire Fitt, Fitt was willing to come to a team where a Baylor college coach was CEO and he basically just signed off on things.

You guys realize that isn’t how things work and not in a million years would any respectable GM come into a situation where a small college coach is the ‘CEO’ right?

Honestly, it’s a worse story than hiring a journalist to be your GM.

Perhaps this is just me hoping, but I'd like to think that he saw the failure that Rhule was/would be and felt he could leverage that into a job that wouldn't be working with Rhule for long and that he also wouldn't have to compete for in a conventional manner. He pretty quickly got more power last season and is now the full GM, and it wasn't a difficult path to identify.