Hurney Would Have My Vote for GM of the Year

[Way Truth Life]

Is the originator of this thread on drugs?

I hope so.

[Seltzer]

No, I am the OP and I firmly believe what I wrote. I have been a PSL holder since 2005 (when I had a real job and could afford it), and I firmly believe in the direction of the team. More so than in any year since 2006.

Hurney has not been perfect and I would not have shed a tear if Richardson would have dimissed him after the 2009 season when he should have dismissed Fox.

Nevertheless, it didn't happen and obviously Richardson believed in Hurney to hire a second coach and try to rebuild the team.

He didn't do a bad job the first go-around (2002-2003) when Hurney first became GM.

The whole point of my original post was that I believe Hurney did an amazing job this year, second only to maybe 2003.

He has been GM for 10 seasons now, and I felt he deserved some props for the direction the team is headed.

I have not always agreed with his decisions, but in a year-to-year league, he has done exceptional this past year. I don't know how that is debatable.

Cam Newton was not the slam dunk pick people are making him out to be now. I wasn't sure of it- and most of anyone else on here wasn't either. That's alright- a lot of people didn't feel that way either, including "experts."

My whole point is the man deserves credit. The Panthers are finally back to where the franchise was in 2005. In the position to compete for a playoff berth every year b/c we have Newton. I can't say domination b/c of New Orleans or Brees.

If people don't agree with me, fine, please lets debate. That's the point of Carolina Huddle.

But for people to say I'm trolling is ridiculous- I have been a fan as long as the Panthers have been around- sixth grade and my first Starter Jacket for me...

[panthers55]

On the other hand, there are teams like Houston, San Francisco, and New Orleans that judiciously selected a few decent to good players to fill some holes on their rosters. Guys like Joseph, and Rogers, and Franklin and Sproles. Those all worked out very well.

Trying to buy a championship like Philly this year or Washington in past years is a proven road to failure. Likewise, shunning FA altogether except for guys signed off other's practice squads will usually get you the same result. It is just cheaper. Not more successful.

Didn't we pick up Ron Edwards, Shockey, Gaithers, trade for Olsen and bring in Nannee among others. Exactly how many guys were we supposed to bring in. I don't think we exactly shunned FA altogether.

[Marguide]

Didn't we pick up Ron Edwards, Shockey, Gaithers, trade for Olsen and bring in Nannee among others. Exactly how many guys were we supposed to bring in. I don't think we exactly shunned FA altogether.

I can't speak to Edwards because I have seen so little of his play, but yes, assuming he is what is hoped for then that is the kind of FA acquisition that makes sense. Shockey as well.

Gaither and Naanee, not so much.

It was just so frustrating when Edwards went down, and we basically said "ahhh, no big deal, we'll just go with the rooks". Or when decent CB after decent CB came on the market and we totally ignored them in favor of Captain.

We should not be in "learning and growing" mode again this upcoming year. If we have a hole, Marty needs to fill it with someone capable, because this team is ready to challenge for the playoffs now.

I don't want or expect Mario Williams, just good C+ to B quality players where we are obviously short.

[bleys]

Didn't we pick up Ron Edwards, Shockey, Gaithers, trade for Olsen and bring in Nannee among others. Exactly how many guys were we supposed to bring in. I don't think we exactly shunned FA altogether.

I remember DaveThePanther told us all we wouldn't bring in an offensive threat to help out Smitty... and then after we brought in Shockey and Olsen, created a long/drawn out thread about how he was right.. :lol:

The mind is a tricky thing... I guess it's easy to understand.. Overly emotional people who rarely use logic rationalize their thoughts by how they think events/situations should have played out in a world where there are no excuses, and failure only happens to the everyday person.. Superhumans (those in control of football teams, players of the game, etc) have no excuses and should only accomplish the impossible...

hindsight is the end all, be all.. and those people running the ship should be able to utilize hindsight to perfection in the here and now...

[Way Truth Life]

Is the originator of this thread on drugs?

After further review.....he's drunk on Richardson juice.

[panthers55]

I can't speak to Edwards because I have seen so little of his play, but yes, assuming he is what is hoped for then that is the kind of FA acquisition that makes sense. Shockey as well.

Gaither and Naanee, not so much.

It was just so frustrating when Edwards went down, and we basically said "ahhh, no big deal, we'll just go with the rooks". Or when decent CB after decent CB came on the market and we totally ignored them in favor of Captain.

We should not be in "learning and growing" mode again this upcoming year. If we have a hole, Marty needs to fill it with someone capable, because this team is ready to challenge for the playoffs now.

I don't want or expect Mario Williams, just good C+ to B quality players where we are obviously short.

Keep in mind that this was Rivera's first year. There was little to no offseason, no real free agency period and no minicamps, OTAs etc. He really didn't know what he had and could only tell from film from previous years. So he took the roster he was given expecially on defense and did what he could. He surely couldn't anticipate Beason going down or the myriad of other injuries. Lets see what he does this year with a full offseason to prepare. I don't think we will kill it in free agency but we will be active, just not right away and not with big names. At this point we are returning 20 out of 22 starters so we won't be looking at wholesale changes. I expect we will look to the draft again and supplement with free agency. This is surely not the sexy to way to build your team but it is the sure way. But I agree with you we do need some upgrades at some positions. But from a money point of view I think it will have to come from the draft as much or more than free agency. For me the secondary is priority number 1.

[Marguide]

For me the secondary is priority number 1.

Give this D a solid corner across from Gamble (i.e. Dre K.) and I would feel a whole lot better going into next year. I envision Hogan as the nickel, leaving us Butler (if we bring him back), Stanford or Captain in dime packages. That sounds much, much better than 2011.

Without going too far off topic, I have to admit I am also intrigued by using our first pick on the D line. Either way, it is clear there are going to be impact players available at the 8/9 pick, so that is exciting.

Let's hope Marty can keep the 1st round magic going.

Edit: One other point...strategically, it would seem to make sense to target the cheaper positions in FA (LB, Safety) and to target the more expensive positions in the draft, given the new rookie rules.

[SCarpanther]

AE was his only bad trade... the rest were a sad attempt to save Fox's job... without considering that, then you're opinion on the matter is leaving out very important details...

that includes keeping Peppers, despite the cap room, and resigning Jake to allow tagging Pep..

your are 100 percent correct bleys, i wasn't saying that was the only thing hurney has done wrong, i was just listing a few. I'm not a big fan of hurney, but its a great time to be a panther and the future is looking great, so I'm a happy camper at the moment.

[X-Clown]

For the record, Hurney was against the Olsen trade.

link?

[bleys]

for the record, Olsen was trying to bring Jay Cutler with him to the Panthers...

[bleys]

for the record, Olsen tried to bring Lance Briggs to Carolina... doinitrite?

[CRA]

By the way, as someone pointed out, it's illogical to grade Hurney based on choices he made six years ago. This kind of logic is why you had people defending Jake Delhomme as "our quarterback" early in the 2009 season.

If it becomes clear that a GM can't do his job, you can him and move on. Clinging to what your GM has done for you in the past would've kept Bill Polian's job.

actually you should judge a GM based on what he did 6, 5, 4 years ago......

what he did in the last year or so shouldn't be weighed as heavily.

What Polion did in the past is ultimate got him fired. He built a franchise that was completely dependent upon 1 man being on the roster.

[bleys]

By the way, as someone pointed out, it's illogical to grade Hurney based on choices he made six years ago. This kind of logic is why you had people defending Jake Delhomme as "our quarterback" early in the 2009 season.

If it becomes clear that a GM can't do his job, you can him and move on. Clinging to what your GM has done for you in the past would've kept Bill Polian's job.

great point, Hurney has been solid ever since Don Gregory came to town..