Hurney

wanted to split this discussion from the Chris Draft discussion.

I'm uneasy about him at times, but probably less than some of you. I would've been more than fine with the over-reaching VP/football ops hire that had been rumored mid-season, but the reason I wanted that, the reason it wouldn't/didn't happen, and the reason I don't put total blame on Hurney is all the same: JR.

He's meddling again. The Foster transition tag, and the requisite contract after that (set on the value of the T tag) I put on JR. I kinda want to put Morgan on JR's feet, too.

The reason Capers was made to have GM power after Polian left, was power struggle. Same for Seifert - who didn't specifically seek a job with "ultimate control". Polian was controlling, and so was JR. With JR up in age, current control isn't the only concern - leaving the team in the hands of Mark Richardson means, to him, not having someone who can boss Mark around.

 

With all due respects Mags, is there some documented evidence that JR is "meddling" or is this just your theory?

 

FWIW, I think this list is what's killing this team. and I don't see much to blame JR on here.

DeAngelo Williams (Nice change of pace back)
Richard Marshall (Could challenge for a starting spot)
James Anderson (current back-up to Diggs)
Rashad Butler (inactive)
Nate Salley (gone)
Jeff King (current back-up TE)
Will Montgomery (???????)
Stanley McClover (De depth)
Thomas Davis (starter)
Eric Shelton (WTF)
Evan Mathis (fighting for a starting job)
Atiyyah Ellison (gone)
Stefan Lefors (gone)
Adam Seward (depth)
Geoff Hangartner (back-up)
Ben Emanuel (gone)
Jovan Haye (gone 0 be nice to still have him)
Joe Berger (gone)
Chris Gamble (starter)
Keary Colbert (useless)
Travelle Wharton (injured starter)
Drew Carter (3rd year potential guy)
Sean Tufts (Gone)
Michael Gaines (RFA - projected starter)
Jordan Gross (high priced RT - UFA next year)
Bruce Nelson (wtf?)
Mike Seidman (gone)
Ricky Manning (gone)
Colin Branch (gone)
Kindal Moorehead (gone)
Walter Young (gone)
Casey Moore (gone)
Julius Peppers (all world)
DeShaun Foster (starter)
Will Witherspoon (gone)
Dante Wesley (gone)
Randy Fasani (gone)
Kyle Johnson (gone)
Keith Heinrich (gone)
Pete Campion (gone)
Brad Franklin (gone)

 

I wondered about JR's possible influence in the Morgan situation, but have no way of knowing. I could also wonder how much Fox may have lobbied to tie our future to a glass jawed player. It's fucking irritating because it's so obviously drawing to an inside straight, rather than playing it smart.

The best case with Morgan is he actually plays all year and looks great doing it, and we trade him as fast as we can. Problem is, I'm convinced that even if the former somehow happens, the latter won't.

 

Nice list, now compare it to other teams...I bet the Panthers are about average by comparison. Sure it looks bad on itself, but that is not an accurate assessment of what Hurney has been able to do.

There is always going to be a "Biakibutuka, but could have had McNair" argument with every selection. If there wasn't, I'd be concerned.

 

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I blame it on our successes more than anything to be honest.

 

Wow, you mean most of the guys we've drafted more than four years ago aren't on the team? That's astonishing. Or average. One or the other.

Drafting well or not drafting well is one thing, and we need to get better at that, but the argument about Hurney specifically is that he is theoretically the person who makes the type decision on Morgan, Foster, and so on.

The argument is that he's the one to blame for these decisions, and I don't beleive that's completely true. The team as a whole takes the blame for drafting, as our staff and our scouts share those responsibilities.

Also, it was JR who put a non-football man into the GM role, under a President who has no football experience either. Hurney's not really responsible for the draft, which is a point of concern for me personally, but isn't really what the idea of the conversation was about.

 

in all fairness, any pick from the 5th round on is basically a crapshoot. More often than not these guys don't stay long term on any NFL roster. I'm more concerned with what we've done in the 1st-4th rounds.

 

There could be an amount of Fox input to Morgan. Certainly, we know little about what happened there or why, but we know what happened with Foster. And JR's certainly more than meddled in the past - honestly, it wasn't Capers who went after Sean Gilbert on his own accord. Seifert was encouraged to bring in Chuck Smith, but that was his idea - Swann, White, all that was JR.