Morgan at the Shrine Bowl, talks about looking for players who are passionate (dawgs)

[Waldo]

6 hours ago, hepcat said:

yea. Genuinely believe I could draft better than the panthers have these last years. I see good players I wanted them to draft go to other teams and have success while the panthers draft guys who don’t even play out their rookie contract. They are genuinely awful at drafting since Tepper took over 

Last years draft was so bad. Even the better guys lack meaningful talent and the top 2 guys were just really bad picks. It's hard for me to expect them to do a 180 and have an actual good draft at this year.

[MHS831]

5 minutes ago, Waldo said:

Last years draft was so bad. Even the better guys lack meaningful talent and the top 2 guys were just really bad picks. It's hard for me to expect them to do a 180 and have an actual good draft at this year.

It sure seems that way at this moment, but I think XL will improve--mentally, I am not sure he grasped the situation last year.  Let's hope a few months off will allow for him to reflect aboard Dollar Bill...Drafting a RB on day 2 is stupid when you are investing in the OL.  Drafting a RB recovering from a severe knee injury is stupid with bonus stupid. 

I look at the first year of my career and cringe.  I would do nearly everything differently.  Maybe Morgan will reflect like XL.  As for the rest of the draft, Wallace, Smith-Wade, Sanders--you can't overlook the success he had rounds 3-7.  To me, that is a good sign.   It means the scouts were out.  With Hurney, I felt they researched the first round, drafted the safest player, and then considered the rest a crap shoot.  I mean, the only draft he had without coach input?  Jimmy Clausen, Brandon Lafell, Armanti Edwards, Eric Norwood.  Not stellar.

[MHS831]

As for drafting project players or players who are injured, it is all about risk/reward.  The Eagles drafted project players because they got good value and they developed them--three years of this has put them in the Super Bowl (Dan Orlovsky).  If you want established, healthy players, you are paying retail.  The Panthers have shown signs they are developing players, perhaps for the first time in years.  Examples:  Bryce, and hats off to the OL coaches--Mays, Ekwonu, and Zavala; Then I look at Coker, Smith-Wade, Wallace, M. Jackson, etc.  I think we have the staff to develop players.  I would evaluate them by their film, workout, interview (to determine coachability and motivation to improve).

Players with athletic ability that we drafted to develop and did not (before Canales):  DJ Johnson, Barno, Chinn, Mingo and TMJ, etc. 

This is why I expect XL to be better in 2025.  However, if your mindset is: "Draft only good players, not projects."  then you need to know that ALL players are projects. Cam was a project.  Steve Smith was a project. 

[Waldo]

2 hours ago, MHS831 said:

It sure seems that way at this moment, but I think XL will improve--mentally, I am not sure he grasped the situation last year.  Let's hope a few months off will allow for him to reflect aboard Dollar Bill...Drafting a RB on day 2 is stupid when you are investing in the OL.  Drafting a RB recovering from a severe knee injury is stupid with bonus stupid. 

I look at the first year of my career and cringe.  I would do nearly everything differently.  Maybe Morgan will reflect like XL.  As for the rest of the draft, Wallace, Smith-Wade, Sanders--you can't overlook the success he had rounds 3-7.  To me, that is a good sign.   It means the scouts were out.  With Hurney, I felt they researched the first round, drafted the safest player, and then considered the rest a crap shoot.  I mean, the only draft he had without coach input?  Jimmy Clausen, Brandon Lafell, Armanti Edwards, Eric Norwood.  Not stellar.

I think anyone player could improve that's young and coachable. It's how much. XL hasn't shown much IMO. He seems kind of dim and that's a bad match for a guy that needs to work on the mental side of his game. The body catching is concerning for a possession type reciver. He was just never a good prospect IMO. We will see but I not wasting much hope on him until I see something worth hoping for.

Morgan was an AGM on the same team that promoted him so I give zero slack to a guy thst should have already been very familiar with the situation. Again, I think it's his MO at this point and I'm not expecting a hige turnaround. He is still beating his same lame drum from last year. It could happen but I'll take the odds on it not happening. I also think that is his personality. Just keep banging away and it will get better, just like it did when he was a player. I just don't think GM is a good fit for him but he could be a great guy to have in  an organization, just not at the top.

The guys in the middle were better but they also are not home runs. Solid but not enough talent IMO. Having missed so hard where there was heaps of talent and having to rely on the next level guys isn't a knock on them personally but just coming up short overall. The best rookie was an UDFA who usually sign where they think they have a shot. Every team needs studs and support. They got some solid support in thr mid rounds but none of it looked more than support unless something changes drastically.

Hurney wasn't a good GM. His best quality was getting out of the way and letting coaches pick their guys in the first. The more input he had the worst the team was, from contracts  to drafting to team building. The team had more success when he was just a facilitator and not pushing to get his guys or do it his way. I just haven't seen anything from Morgan that's more than bearly average.