Does Don Gregory have us on the right track ?

[Kurb]

Don Gregory (DG) has over 20 years of talent evaluation under his belt. He replaced Tony Softli in 2006 when Softli bolted for a pres of player/personnel job with the Rams.

Lets look at the 3 drafts prior to DG's arrival, 04, 05, 06

2004

1) Chris Gamble

2) Keary Colbert

3)Travelle Wharton

4)

5)Drew Carter

6)Sean Tufts

7)Micheal Gains

2 Players are good - very good (Gamble/Wharton)

the rest were never anything more than minor contributors.

2005

1) Thomas Davis

2) Eric Shelton

3) Evan Mathis

4) Stephan Lefors

5) Adam Seward

5) Hangman

5) Ben Emanual

6) Jovan Haye

2 good players in (Davis and Hangman)

1 backup in (Adam Seward)

1 player who didn't fit in with out scheme and found success elsewhere (Haye)

I think the rest of them are out of the NFL

We also traded away the chance to take Lofa Tatupu to get Eric Shelton:idea:

2006

1) D-Will

2) Richard Marshall

3) James Anderson

3) Rashard Butler

4) Nate Salley

5) Jeff King

6) Will Montogomery

7) Stanley McGlover

1 Star (D-will)

1 good player (Marshal)

1 solid player (King)

2 passable back ups (Salley/Anderson

Now Gregory took over in 2007.

Some have said that Softli pretty much mailed it in for the 2005/06 drafts.

Lets comepare now and see how Gregory has done (on paper)

2007

1) Jon Beason

2) Ryan Kalil

2) Dwayne Jarrett

3) Charles Johnson

4) Ryne Robinson

5) Dante Rosario

7) CJ Wilson

1 star (Beason)

1 Very good ( Kalil)

5 backup/contributers (Jarrett, Johnson, Robinson, Rosario, Wilson)

2008

1) Stew

1) Otah

3) Dan Connor

3) Charles Godfry

5) Gary Barnbridge

6) Nick Hayden

7) Hilee Taylor

7) The Schwartz

7) Markenzy Babaerbeaberanu

2 Stars (Otah/Stew)

1 promising starter/contributer (Godfry, Barnbridge)

4 jury still out ( Connor, Schwartz, Markenzy) They will be backups this season however

2 in the hot seats (Taylor/Hayden)

2009

2) Everette Brown

2) Sherod Martin

3) Corvey Irvin

4) Tony Fimmetta

5) Duke Robinson

7) Cptn Munnerlynn

I won't make assumptions on these guys.

To me, it seems we are on the upswing.

2005 was Devistating to this team, I honestly think it took us 2 or so years to get over it.

2007/2008 provided an influx of talent that I would argue has pushed us into the spot were we are now. Leaders like Beason/Williams/Kalil have given us anchors on some of the most important area's on the team.

Without really researching it, I would guess we are drafting as well as any team in the NFL.

Thoughts ?

[bLACKpANTHER]

i really have liked who we have gotten the past 3 drafts.. especially in the 3rd & 5th rounds.. of corse the stars are there in the 1st and 2nd rnds, but the mid rounds is where u build your core and picking up guys like Godfrey, Conner, CJ, Duke, Hayden, Rosario..

[dksmith17]

Everytime I get excited about our incoming draft class I remember 2005 with Shelton and Leflors and the whole forgettable lot of them.

[Kurb]

Everytime I get excited about our incoming draft class I remember 2005 with Shelton and Leflors and the whole forgettable lot of them.

Notice I left one player off in 2005, that was for NanceUSMC I TOLD YOU ARRON!!!!!

On paper 2005 looked great in the later rounds.

Shelton was a monster at Louisville, Mathis was a physical specimen, Lefors was the smart accurate backuptype QB, then they started playing football....:banghead: Mathis was soft, Shelton ran like he weighed 100lbs, and Lefors got baby hands.

[PhillyB]

awesome analysis! i think we definitely are on the upswing... it's encouraging to see evidence of it. with as much home-grown talent as we've got on both sides of the ball, we should start having some pretty awesome seasons.

[carpanfan96]

Regardless of what "experts may say" about our 09 draft, I thought it was solid from top to bottom and there really wasn't any bad selections need wise.

Brown - edge rusher we needed badly, he has a lot of rush moves and was solid against the run in College.

Martin - Nickel corner in our new scheme, also a need. Can also play both safety spots as well.

Irvin - Dt was a need speed/pass rush wise and I think he fills the need pass rush wise there if he gets to see the field.

Fiammetta - Good blocking fullback who has some speed and can catch out of the backfield, will contribute right away on ST most likely and could see time at FB, eventual replacement for Hoover.

Goodson - Should contribute in a lot of ways, KR/PR, Backup rb to Double Trouble, Slot reciever.

Robinson - Will provide nice depth at the G spot, nice steal this late in the draft. Another position of need for us.

Captin - Will compete for the 3 & 4th Corner spots with Wilson and Martin.

The last few drafts have been very solid and have added stars to the mix in Carolina, this one should be no different.

[rayzor]

Everytime I get excited about our incoming draft class I remember 2005 with Shelton and Leflors and the whole forgettable lot of them.

you also have to remember that the damage was done by a different crew of scouts. we have a better bunch scouting and the results are pretty good so far. the talent is much better. this is how championship teams and dynasties are made. we haven't gotten there but i think we are much closer than we have been. we have laid the foundation for one of the most thoroughly solid teams in the NFL with enough youth to build with to carry the team to a bright future.

we have had a much better track record of drafting starters than other teams but it wasn't until the past couple years that we have actually begun to use the draft to fill the ranks with quality players. i hope that a whole lot more players who leaves the panthers from here on out becomes starters on other teams. it would be a testament to the ability that this team has to pick and develop talent.

so yes, i believe that gregory has us on the right track.

[Kurb]

The true beauty is this.

We have signed a some of our bestest first rounders to long term deals, and if not for the Peppers fiasco we would have roughly 20million in cap space.

With that space either or all Davis/Beason/Kalil/Wiliams could be extended as well.

When things like that start to happen, hording draftpicks, tradeing back for insane deals (see Iggles/Pats) and establishing annoyingly good depth gets easier and easier. When that begins you start being able to take people when you want to reguardless of reach, and really start to BUILD a contender from year to year.

[monstercat]

There is no doubt in my mind that Gregory is a definite upgrade over Softli. They are almost exact opposites of each other...Softli liked to wear suits and stay at the home office, while letting his scouts do all the work. Gregory likes to wear sweatshirts and travel to see as many prospects as he can in person.

I don't think we will see anymore Eric Sheltons or Rashard Butlers being drafted in the 3rd round as long as Gregory is running the show.

[panthers55]

The true beauty is this.

We have signed a some of our bestest first rounders to long term deals, and if not for the Peppers fiasco we would have roughly 20million in cap space.

With that space either or all Davis/Beason/Kalil/Wiliams could be extended as well.

When things like that start to happen, hording draftpicks, tradeing back for insane deals (see Iggles/Pats) and establishing annoyingly good depth gets easier and easier. When that begins you start being able to take people when you want to reguardless of reach, and really start to BUILD a contender from year to year.

That is the reason a team like the Patriots always seem to lose a few veterans to free agency and yet reload every year. Or they have an injury to a key player like Brady and have a guy who comes in and performs. If Bernadeau and Robinson come in and do well this year then we would have made the right moves letting Hangman and Omiyale go. It will also make sure that if we have injuries it won't kill us. Last year we had a very dinged up offensive line but due to good depth it wasn't that noticeable. We had a good run game and gave up only 20 sacks all year. If we want the consistency we crave, we have to have good depth and plenty of backups who can perform.

And we need to go through the inevitable process of replacing high priced free agents with low priced rookies. We did that last year with Stewart in the event that Williams wants too much when his contract is up. Hopefully you keep them both but we have to be prepared.

[rayzor]

That is the reason a team like the Patriots always seem to lose a few veterans to free agency and yet reload every year. Or they have an injury to a key player like Brady and have a guy who comes in and performs. If Bernadeau and Robinson come in and do well this year then we would have made the right moves letting Hangman and Omiyale go. It will also make sure that if we have injuries it won't kill us. Last year we had a very dinged up offensive line but due to good depth it wasn't that noticeable. We had a good run game and gave up only 20 sacks all year. If we want the consistency we crave, we have to have good depth and plenty of backups who can perform.

And we need to go through the inevitable process of replacing high priced free agents with low priced rookies. We did that last year with Stewart in the event that Williams wants too much when his contract is up. Hopefully you keep them both but we have to be prepared.

i totally believe that and a huge part of the problem that we had in injury ridden years that followed succesful years is that we had no real depth. we have that now and we have it in a lot of areas. we have a great oline coach who can get our guys to do really good things, whether back ups or not. we have the talent there...it's not really proven but i don't think that there is going to be much of a drop off from last year.

in other areas we have some really good depth and we could lose a few key players and still be a really solid and competitive team unlike previous years.

we have better backups than we have had at QB in many years with a QB coach who can actually develop talent.

we have very good and solid depth at RB. we have some really good young talent at WR waiting for a chance to step up and prove themselves.

on defense we have a very young but potentially very solid group of players along with a coaching staff that is hard core and unrelenting but are also teaching our guys things that they haven't gotten before. The Dline, with or without peppers is going to be something to be reckoned with. brown, johnson, and brayton i feel good about. i feel good about taylor as well and think that meeks/baker is going to help him reach his potential. the DTs should be pretty solid as well, though still not our strongest part of the defense by any means...i know that meeks has done more with less.

the LBs...are you kidding me? man, we have some talent there that is deep. i even feel good about a couple of the UDFAs that we got and think that they would be good backups if we lost a couple key players.

the secondary is also on par with what meeks had in indy and he was able to keep them and the defense respectable. we have just the right players for the fast and aggressive defense that he is going to be running and if he can get all potential players on board with what he is doing (which he won't allow anything less it sounds like) we will be solid through and through.

point is...injuries may come but it won't have the catastrophic nature that they did in the past.

[mantal]

Gregory is the man! I think we have a scouting department doing it's job at a high level and we just renewed all of them, so the Panthers agree as well. I salute you Don...

[Mr. Scot]

I've been one of Gregory's biggest fans since the first draft on his watch. One thing I remember noticing was that he took part in the post-draft press conference last year. I don't recall Softli ever doing that. I'm much happier with the quality of drafts since he came aboard.

As to Softli, he was very nearly fired by the Rams after only one year on the job.

[bigdog_10_2002]

IMO...Gregory could screw up the next two drafts and still be o.k. in my book.

The picks of Beason, Stewart, and Otah have given him an extendable leash from me.