Rapoport: Panthers working out long-term deal with K Graham Gano. Franchise Tag if not done by 4pm tomorrow

[LinvilleGorge]

2 minutes ago, Mr. Scot said:

But that's kinda like saying the board would have been pissed if Andrew Norwell struggled.  Sure they would have, but that didn't happen. 

Butker looked great and the Chiefs now look like they're set for a decade to come at kicker.  Meanwhile, we were gun shy to try long field goals.  Wondering what would have happened had we tried those field goals is a more valid hypothetical.

 

I think you're letting your Hurney hate cloud your vision on this one (thefuzz too). There was pretty much zero positive buzz about Gano during camp last year. The guy was supposedly shanking kicks all over the place. You have to make decisions in the moment based on the information you have to work with. Based on all the talk around Gano and Butker through camp, I understand why we went with Gano. Where I fault Hurney was carrying two kickers through week one thinking someone was going to trade for a rookie kicker who the word was out on that he'd struggled mightily throughout camp. There was no chance of that happening.

[Mr. Scot]

Just now, LinvilleGorge said:

I think you're letting your Hurney hate cloud your vision on this one (thefuzz too). There was pretty much zero positive buzz about Gano during camp last year. The guy was supposedly shanking kicks all over the place. You have to make decisions in the moment based on the information you have to work with. Based on all the talk around Gano and Butker through camp, I understand why we went with Gano. Where I fault Hurney was carrying two kickers through week one thinking someone was going to trade for a rookie kicker who the word was out on that he'd struggled mightily throughout camp. There was no chance of that happening.

And see, here's the problem with the premise: If, as you say, he didn't look like an NFL kicker in camp, then why did he make the final roster at all?

The story at the time was that they couldn't decide who to go with.  How can that be so if Butker looked as bad as you're suggesting?

Either he didn't look as comically bad as it sounds here or the Panthers made a mistake by not just putting him on the practice squad from day one.

[LinvilleGorge]

3 minutes ago, Mr. Scot said:

And see, here's the problem with the premise: If, as you say, he didn't look like an NFL kicker in camp, then why did he make the final roster at all?

The story at the time was that they couldn't decide who to go with.  How can that be so if Butker looked as bad as you're suggesting?

Either he didn't look as comically bad as it sounds here or the Panthers made a mistake by not just putting him on the practice squad from day one.

We made the mistake of carrying him on the roster. Hurney thought he was being slick and playing chess and was going to get a late round pick out of Butker when in reality he just looked like an idiot.

We had already made our decision. The rumors were that we were specifically trying to trade Butker.

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/nfl/carolina-panthers/article170164447.html

Two sources told the Observer on Wednesday that the Panthers are gauging trade interest in veteran punter Andy Lee and rookie kicker (and seventh-round draft pick) Harrison Butker.

[thefuzz]

Read through some of those posts.

Pay close attention to the one where we talked about Butker making his only 50+ attempt and Gano missing is only try.

Oh, and don't forget the 17.5M that we could save.

[ecu88]

Just now, thefuzz said:

Read through some of those posts.

Pay close attention to the one where we talked about Butker making his only 50+ attempt and Gano missing is only try.

Oh, and don't forget the 17.5M that we could save.

Yup

Makes more sense to draft Eddy from Florida then give a choke artist 5m

[LinvilleGorge]

2 minutes ago, thefuzz said:

Read through some of those posts.

Pay close attention to the one where we talked about Butker making his only 50+ attempt and Gano missing is only try.

Oh, and don't forget the 17.5M that we could save.

Are you ignoring all those posts saying the same thing that I'm saying here, that Butker struggled big time in camp?

 

[thefuzz]

7 minutes ago, LinvilleGorge said:

I think you're letting your Hurney hate cloud your vision on this one (thefuzz too). There was pretty much zero positive buzz about Gano during camp last year. The guy was supposedly shanking kicks all over the place. You have to make decisions in the moment based on the information you have to work with. Based on all the talk around Gano and Butker through camp, I understand why we went with Gano. Where I fault Hurney was carrying two kickers through week one thinking someone was going to trade for a rookie kicker who the word was out on that he'd struggled mightily throughout camp. There was no chance of that happening.

Oh....there is very little Hurney hate in my heart...I don't have it in me to hate someone so unqualified for a job that pays millions...Hell, I'm happy for HIM.

I'm not happy for the team I root for.

 

[Car123]

4 minutes ago, Mr. Scot said:

And see, here's the problem with the premise: If, as you say, he didn't look like an NFL kicker in camp, then why did he make the final roster at all?

The story at the time was that they couldn't decide who to go with.  How can that be so if Butker looked as bad as you're suggesting?

Either he didn't look as comically bad as it sounds here or the Panthers made a mistake by not just putting him on the practice squad from day one.

Gano would have been cut if he struggled.

[thefuzz]

Just now, LinvilleGorge said:

Are you ignoring all those posts saying the same thing that I'm saying here, that Butker struggled big time in camp?

 

I saw one article.  Care to post more?

I care nothing about what some fans think they saw from the lawn in Spartanburg SC.

If he struggled, he should have been cut, not brought onto the opening day roster.

[panther4life]

Pretty obvious Rivera favored Gano and he had a good season overall. Hurney carried them both on the final 53 after camp and at the very least made him available for trade after Rivera had clearly chosen Gano as the Kicker. Once that didn’t work he rode the practice squad for 2 weeks before the chiefs finally claimed him. 

While Rivera was top risk averse to try any 50+ yard attempts in the regular season, Gano closed out halftime against the saints in the playoffs  with a 58 yarder. So he is capable of making them.

Hard to blame Hurney too much for this move, considering he went with the Kicker Rivera wanted and he was the most accurate kicker in the NFL, plus lead the league in touchbacks. Also Butker missed 4 FG’s to Gano’s 1. 

 

 

 

[Mr. Scot]

10 minutes ago, LinvilleGorge said:

We made the mistake of carrying him on the roster. Hurney thought he was being slick and playing chess and was going to get a late round pick out of Butker when in reality he just looked like an idiot.

From just prior to final cuts last year (link)

Quote

Over the past month, head coach Ron Rivera has said multiple times that the race for punting job was closer than the kicking competition between incumbent Graham Gano and seventh-round pick Harrison Butker. But Sunday, Rivera made it sound like both spots are still up for grabs going into the preseason finale with Pittsburgh.

“(This is) a very big week,” Rivera said. “As far as we're concerned, these guys are even. They've done a great job in camp, they've been very competitive.

And just after (link)

Quote

“The thing is, we're happy with both of them,” interim general manager Marty Hurney said Sunday. “It's a fluid process, but we're fortunate enough that we have two kickers that we really like, and we'll just see how that develops.”

During training camp, head coach Ron Rivera implied the competition at kicker wasn't much of one. But then Gano, the incumbent and frontrunner, banged two attempts of 50-plus yards off the goalpost in the preseason. Butker, meanwhile, went 2-for-2, making 51- and 46-yarders.

Butker may have gotten off to a rough start (rookies often do) but by the time it came down to the end, and specifically when Butker outperformed Gano in the final preseason game, the clues were there.

They took the chance on Palardy.  Should have done the same with Butker instead of screwing around trying to get a better deal. 

At the very least, they should have taken the low round pick that was offered (I forget by who).  That, at least, would have been more forgivable.

[LinvilleGorge]

Just now, thefuzz said:

I saw one article.  Care to post more?

I care nothing about what some fans think they saw from the lawn in Spartanburg SC.

If he struggled, he should have been cut, not brought onto the opening day roster.

I don't recall articles, I recall posts by @Jeremy Igo made from his observances at training camp practices. I take training camp performance evaluations with a grain of salt for most positions, but it's pretty easy for an observer to see if one kicker is making kicks and another kicker is missing them.

I 100% agree he should've been cut and not brought onto the opening day roster. All the rumors were that we were trying to trade Butker meaning that we'd made our decision. Hurney thought he could swindle some team out of a conditional 7th so he carried two kickers on the roster while the rest of the NFL laughed knowing Butker would be released very soon anyway.

[LinvilleGorge]

3 minutes ago, Mr. Scot said:

From just prior to final cuts last year (link)

And just after (link)

Butker may have gotten off to a rough start (rookies often do) but by the time it came down to the end, and specifically when Butker outperformed Gano in the final preseason game, the clues were there.

They took the chance on Palardy.  Should have done the same with Butker instead of screwing around trying to get a better deal. 

At the very least, they should have taken the low round pick that was offered (I forget by who).  That, at least, would have been more forgivable.

In hindsight, yeah they should've gone with Butker. But I think those clowns were just trying to drum up a trade offer at that point. All the talk up until that point was that there basically was no kicking competition.

[Mr. Scot]

Just now, LinvilleGorge said:

In hindsight, yeah they should've gone with Butker. But I think those clowns were just trying to drum up a trade offer at that point. All the talk up until that point was that there basically was no kicking competition.

With a rookie just starting out against a veteran on a team whose coach favors veterans, that's not a surprise.

I think at the very least we can all agree that the whole thing was ultimately bungled.  Why they didn't just take the offer they got still baffles me.