Hurney and mortgaging the future...

[Anybodyhome]

We can all look back now and see that the Edwards pick looks like a bad move right now. On the other hand Goodson looked like a bad pick last year after several fumbles and little to no game time. What a difference a year makes.

Edwards was traded up to get in the third at #89 and has done nothing, bottom line. Goodson was a fourth round #111.

In my mind I'm feeling better that a 4th round RB didn't pan out with Stewart and Williams on the roster than I do a 3rd rounder you traded up to get as a project/potential #2 WR without a legitimate #2 WR or KR/PR on the roster already?

[Floppin]

Edwards was not the only WR drafted to fill that need. If he was then your argument might be more valid. There were more experienced WR's drafted ahead and behind of him to fill that need on an immediate basis. Plus we had Jarret!

[Anybodyhome]

You guys act like it was a pick that we used that we already had. If we hadn't traded for it, Edwards would not be on the team at all, nor anyone else with that pick for that matter. What we would have would be whoever we picked up in next years draft with our second round pick. Another rookie, who may or may not work out, but regardless they got someone that they feel is a talent that they had a free year to develop with no consequences.

And you accuse me of having no objectivity.

2 words- free agent. It's not as if the draft is the only way this team is going to fill roster spots. The Panthers created the situation after signing no free agents they had no choice but to make draft day moves, which are haunting them now.

Again, look at the 2009 and 2010 draft and tell me how many of these guys are true starting material on the Panthers and who were forced into the starting role because the guy in front of them is hurt?

[Anybodyhome]

Edwards was not the only WR drafted to fill that need. If he was then your argument might be more valid. There were more experienced WR's drafted ahead and behind of him to fill that need on an immediate basis. Plus we had Jarret!

So are you saying the draft picks in Gettis, LaFell and Edwards were a stab at hoping maybe one or two of them would become NFL caliber WRs?

I'm not trying to get an argument going here, I'm just trying to understand how to justify trading up for a guy who cannot start immediately, especially into the top 3 rounds.

[Kevin Greene]

You guys act like it was a pick that we used that we already had. If we hadn't traded for it, Edwards would not be on the team at all, nor anyone else with that pick for that matter. What we would have would be whoever we picked up in next years draft with our second round pick. Another rookie, who may or may not work out, but regardless they got someone that they feel is a talent that they had a free year to develop with no consequences.

And you accuse me of having no objectivity.

Point is the Panthers gave up this years 33rd pick for a projected 4th or 5th rounder last year.

[mav1234]

Gettis, Fiammetta, Martin, and Goodson so far this year look like "real starting material," even if they were forced into service due to injury/poor play in some cases.

Many, many others look like solid roleplayers who could really develop into great players, too.

edit: AE wouldn't have been around to us in the 4th, and he certainly wouldn't have been there in the 5th O.o Those may have been the projected rounds but I actually believe Gantt when he says there are GMs who have said they would have taken him if they could have before our next selection.

[Anybodyhome]

Gettis, Fiammetta, Martin, and Goodson so far this year look like "real starting material," even if they were forced into service due to injury/poor play in some cases.

Many, many others look like solid roleplayers who could really develop into great players, too.

edit: AE wouldn't have been around to us in the 4th, and he certainly wouldn't have been there in the 5th O.o Those may have been the projected rounds but I actually believe Gantt when he says there are GMs who have said they would have taken him if they could have before our next selection.

Right, and the only one of those taken in the top 3 rounds was who? Sherrod Martin. The fact the other 3 guys you mentioned are making an impact is an added bonus.

The notion Edwards would not have been there in the 4th is pure speculation, especially given the very short demise of the so-called "wildcat" in the NFL. How long did that fad last?

[Floppin]

So are you saying the draft picks in Gettis, LaFell and Edwards were a stab at hoping maybe one or two of them would become NFL caliber WRs?

I'm not trying to get an argument going here, I'm just trying to understand how to justify trading up for a guy who cannot start immediately, especially into the top 3 rounds.

I think every draft pick is a stab at getting a starting NFL caliber talent. Or do you think they just draft people for their good looks?

[mav1234]

Right, and the only one of those taken in the top 3 rounds was who? Sherrod Martin. The fact the other 3 guys you mentioned are making an impact is an added bonus.

The notion Edwards would not have been there in the 4th is pure speculation, especially given the very short demise of the so-called "wildcat" in the NFL. How long did that fad last?

You didn't say *making an impact*. I would say Lafell is making an impact, and Brown is starting to come into his own. Lafell just took longer to get going than Gettis so I'm not putting him there yet, but I think he has the potential to big the next Moose on this team... so IMO that is a big deal. Brown is starting to look better in the last half of this season, but he's certainly no Peppers replacement =(

It's NOT pure speculation to say Edwards wouldn't have been there. It's speculation to say he WOULD have been there, considering the only sources on the matter (the panthers FO and Gantt) claim that he wouldn't be there. If you don't believe them, so be it, but I'm betting they are right... and I bet he'd look great on a team like the Colts who would actually find ways to utilize him.

edit: why is there this artificial boundary between draft rounds that prevents a guy from being drafted to be an impact player in that round?? I don't understand. We have gotten about 6 good, talented starters out of the last 2 drafts, another 3-4 situationally good guys... I mean, this team is loaded with talent from drafts in the last 4 years, and now we have to only consider those picks above the 3rd round to be any good...?

[The Saltman]

I think every draft pick is a stab at getting a starting NFL caliber talent. Or do you think they just draft people for their good looks?

1st round for me baby!!

/bullshiit

[rayzor]

If we draft a QB with the one of our 1st three picks, I think it's time for Carolina fans to boycott games. Seriously, your going to give up on our 2nd rounder from this year, after only 1 year??? You'd have to question the competance of those running the organization.

why? for stumbling onto the best QB to come out of college in years and taking advantage of the opportunity? clausen is not a franchise QB. you don't pass up on a franchise QB if you don't have one. you take advantage of opportunities that fall into your lap.

you aren't considering clausen a failure if you draft luck. you're simply admitting that you found a better QB and you're willing to take him.

if clausen was entrenched into the role..if the offense was built around him... if there were a couple years invested into the program... if he showed some dominance and was taking control of the team...if we didn't have a new coaching staff coming in next year... if any of these things were the case, then there would be a better argument for not drafting luck first overall. if luck isn't in the draft next year or for some reason we don't wind up with the first pick overall, then i would be fine sticking with clausen and drafting aj green or trading down, although i have serious doubts about his potential at the moment.

if clausen really is worth keeping, he'll win us more games and that will probably knock us out of the luck chase anyway, making the discussion moot.

if clausen doesn't win many more games this year, you have to question whether he can. now, you can say that no one, esp. a green QB like clausen, could win with this team and offense. that means that the position remains at best a '?'. if you have a '?' at QB, you don't pass up on a franchise QB like luck.

also...new regimes typically bring in their own QB within the first couple years. when is the new coach going to have the opportunity to draft someone special like luck? what are the chances that this team will be picking in the top 3 overall spots in the next draft? when is the new coach going to find an opportunity like this?

[Anybodyhome]

I think every draft pick is a stab at getting a starting NFL caliber talent. Or do you think they just draft people for their good looks?

But hasn't the team essentially conceded a bad move when they draft a WR in LaFell and the very next pick is Edwards (who was drafted as a WR, not a QB) and then you draft yet another WR further down the road. Just how many WRs did the Panthers need to replace? Drafting three in hopes of getting one good one to replace Moose/Jarrett?

[mav1234]

They drafted WRs in hopes of getting two, I think, Anybodyhome. Most teams have more than 2 decent WRs, and it'd be nice to have 3.

[Baschski]

Hindsight is 20/20. If Clausen was playing well we'd all be slobbering on Hurney's knob even if he had traded up to get him. We also weren't the only team in the NFL who thought that Edwards could become a player, and it's STILL too early to say that he can't.