Ron Fields and Reggie Wells?

[Marguide]

So Hurney has a staff of professional scouts who scour over tons of reports about every guy released and then they talk to guys in the league about who is worth a flier and who is not.

Yet huddlers are more knowledgeable because they googled the name and looked at an internet report or an article here and there.

Why do I trust Hurney and his staff more????

Crazy I guess...... LOL

I understand what you are saying. Of course they have better information than any of us, and to think otherwise is naive. However, that doesn't mean that disagreeing with his particular philosophy on bringing in spot players is misguided.

He clearly prefers combing through rosters trying to find a good fit at a good price. That is not the only way to fill holes, though, and you don't have to look any farther than New England or Philly to see examples of plugging in vets with better resumes, although at a higher price.

So yes, we should trust Marty, but at the same time recognize that the approach he follows is not the only reasonable one.

[Cat'sGrowl]

Hurney has always been good at finding guys on other people's scrap heaps that turn out to be pretty good for us. Guys like Hollis Thomas come to mind off the bat.

Except he hasn't. he constantly pulls this crap and we may get lucky and get an average player out of every 30 tries or so.

When you're looking for depth, you sign players who you know what you are going to get out of them. You don't bank your success on the hopes that maybe a guy just had a tough break somewhere else (or with 2 or 3 other teams) and that he will magically plug right in and WE can finally be the team that gets him over the hump.

A team of 54 average guys is a better than a team with 50 crappy players and 4 decent players.

[Jackofalltrades]

Only we have far more than 4 decent players, and are looking for stopgaps, which we got.

[Carl Spackler]

hahahaha in the Huddle mock offseason I was the Panthers and I signed Ronald Fields

[Dpantherman]

Some of you are SO fickle.

[maddog]

I've been wondering if the majority of the fans on here that are cool with just rebuilding this year are mooching off mom and dad or some relative with PSL's. No I haven't set down and googled every single player out there but from what I've read it surely seems like there are better fits. Week 1 defense looked like all the other weeks in preseason! Jerry is the one that raised ticket prices so if he wanted to do that, then there needs to be a better solution than scraping the bottom of the barrel for somebody that isn't going to make things better. An accomplished vet like (like being the key word) Pat Williams can offer more than somebody who has just barely gotten by. Through play and coaching! Who would you rather be mentored by Fields or Williams? I say go preach that let's just focus on rebuilding crap to the group of fans shelling out good money each year. You can still try to win and rebuild at the same time!

[Floppin]

Ngata Y U NO a Free agent?!?!?!

Some of you are fuging ridiculous.

[Lout]

Ronald Fields is great at taking double teams in the run game.. basically no pass rushing skills whatsoever.. but I remember him being the 49ers nose tackle for a few years.. he used to be pretty decent.

[Floppin]

Ronald Fields is great at taking double teams in the run game.. basically no pass rushing skills whatsoever.. but I remember him being the 49ers nose tackle for a few years.. he used to be pretty decent.

That's all that's really needed. Our DT"s were getting pressure on passing downs and just getting pushed around a little bit, especially early, on obvious running downs. They actually did better as the game went on. Some of the posters around here are just never satisfied if we don't somehow sign Suh off waivers.

[panthers55]

I understand what you are saying. Of course they have better information than any of us, and to think otherwise is naive. However, that doesn't mean that disagreeing with his particular philosophy on bringing in spot players is misguided.

He clearly prefers combing through rosters trying to find a good fit at a good price. That is not the only way to fill holes, though, and you don't have to look any farther than New England or Philly to see examples of plugging in vets with better resumes, although at a higher price.

So yes, we should trust Marty, but at the same time recognize that the approach he follows is not the only reasonable one.

Actually New England prefers the aging vet who has a year or two left or the troubled malcontent who doesn't fit in elsewhere. The have the luxury of having a very strong lockerroom which can handle guys like that where we are way too young for that at this point.

Philly is throwing money around with all the veteran signings trying to buy a championship. It makes sense they are following the same model the Phillies used in baseball in an effort to stay relevant. We will see how that works. Their advantage is people want to play in a big market for a contender who is a playoff perennial. Unfortunately that is not us. We tried to go after some big names but for whatever reason it didn't work out. Honestly who knows if we didn't go after some of the guys all of you are bitching we missed. I thought I read several days ago that Alex Brown was all but saying we were going to sign him. I wonder what happened.

Each team has to find the right path for them which doesn't make it wrong if it is not the same one as someone else. In the end, the results are all that matters. The Panthers went the expensive vet fee agent route several times with mixed results. They have decided that the journeymen cheaper route suits them for now as they are not one or two players away from the playoffs and will build through the draft. I will wait to see how it works before throwing anyone under the bus or deciding if iit a good strategy or not.

[csx]

tommie harris spent the offseason with the colts...played in the preseason too.

still has the tools to be a good contributor, and has played under rivera.

obviously Rivera is in a better position than anyone here to make the decision

[klumme]

As good as it get at this time...

I like it ( sorry for not being the normal huddle member and hating on everything Hurney does ).

A run blocking DT with starter experience and a RG/RT vet. NICE.

[panthers55]

Except he hasn't. he constantly pulls this crap and we may get lucky and get an average player out of every 30 tries or so.

When you're looking for depth, you sign players who you know what you are going to get out of them. You don't bank your success on the hopes that maybe a guy just had a tough break somewhere else (or with 2 or 3 other teams) and that he will magically plug right in and WE can finally be the team that gets him over the hump.

A team of 54 average guys is a better than a team with 50 crappy players and 4 decent players.

Tyler brayton

Hollis Thomas

Jeremy Shockey

Nail Diggs

Ed Johnson

Damione Lewis

Keyshawn Johnson

Keydrick Vincent

Vinny Testeverde

Off the top of my head over the past few years. All players over the hill, coming off injury, or cut by their old team. They all served roles for us and were productive at a very cheap price. I am sure I missed a bunch but anyone who doesn't realize that Hurney is the master of picking up diamonds in the rough just aren't paying attention. Sure there have been busts along the way as well but that is the point. You pick up other folks rejects and sift through them looking for a gem. If you look long and hard and go through enough folks, you hit pay dirt occasionally.

One out of 30 and 50 crappy players and 4 decent ones?? Who are we talking about the Buffalo Bills or what?

[panthers55]

That's all that's really needed. Our DT"s were getting pressure on passing downs and just getting pushed around a little bit, especially early, on obvious running downs. They actually did better as the game went on. Some of the posters around here are just never satisfied if we don't somehow sign Suh off waivers.

exactly. With the way our DEs were crashing and all the various blitzes we employed, all we need is a fat guy in the middle to stuff things up. He doesn't need to get pressure just keep linemen off the backers and let them roam without having to concentrate on staying inside to play the run all day. That has been a winning formula when we had Kemo, Thomas, and a number of non-mobile nose tackles. It would be great for a suh to show up and volunteer to play here. Until then we have to be happy with who we can get.