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My friend's theory on why we've passed on so many receivers

top dawg

By top dawg,
in Carolina Panthers

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LinvilleGorge Grand Master

LinvilleGorge

Posted
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We haven't been as neglectful of the WR position as many Panthers fans like to act.  We've just had a bunch of guys not work out.  

 

Going back to '04, we've drafted:

 

Keary Colbert - 2cd round (bust)

Dwayne Jarrett - 2cd round (bust)

Ryne Robinson - 4th round (bust)

Brandon LaFell - 3rd round

Armanti Edwards - 3rd round (bust)

Kealoha Pilares - 5th round (bust, if you can even call a 5th rounder a bust)

Joe Adams - 4th round (bust)

 

That's 7 guys since '04 drafted in the 5th round or higher.  The only real notable things we can point out are that we haven't spent a 1st rounder on a WR during this time frame and we haven't spent a 2cd rounder on a WR since '07.  I don't think our WR issues are due to lack of investment in the position but a breakdown of scouting, drafting, and/or development of talent.  If you draft 7 guys in the first 5 rounds of the draft in a 10 year period, you should have a solid WR corps.  Maybe not world beaters, but you should be able to have a competent WR corps.  Instead, there's only 2 WRs currently on our roster that we've actually drafted.  Only 1 of those guys is among those 7 guys we've drafted since '04.  That's pathetic.

 

Offensive tackle on the other hand... well, that's a different story.  In that same time frame, we've drafted the following at OT:

 

Travelle Wharton - 3rd round (has primarly played OG, so I'm not even sure he should even count here but he did play LT at SC and did fill in at OT for us so I'll include him)

Joe Berger - 6th round

Rashad Butler - 3rd round (bust)

Jeff Schwartz - 7th round

Lee Ziemba - 7th round

 

That's what real neglect of a position looks like right there.  2006 was the last time we spent a 3rd round pick or higher on an OT and we've only selected 2 OTs since then, both 7th round picks.

 

With that said, those picks are a sunk cost and made by a former GM.  It's time for Gettleman to invest some high picks into this offense.  We've done enough defensive building right now unless an absolute stud of a DB who is by head and shoulders the best player on our board falls into our lap. 

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LinvilleGorge Grand Master

LinvilleGorge

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still cant believe we traded a 2nd rd pick for armanti edwards. blows my mind

 

Bill Belichick would still be laughing at us for that... if he didn't draft a bust with that pick himself.  He drafted UVA CB Ras-I Dowling with that pick.  It sure would be a kick in the nuts if he'd gone onto be an All-Pro CB, but at least the fact that he's watching NFL football from his couch the same as Armanti makes is slightly easier to stomach, at least for me anyway.

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Mr. Scot Grand Master

Mr. Scot

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TBH, I don't really give a fug about the reasons whether it be J.R., Hurney, global warming, George W, or an ol' timey root doctor. Whatever it is it needs to change.

 

I know it's not unique to us.

 

Take a look at this list...

 

Gari Scott

Todd Pinkston

Troy Smith (not that one)

Freddie Mitchell

Freddie Milons

Billy McMullen

Reggie Brown

Jason Avant

 

Those are the receivers the Eagles drafted in the first seven years of the Donovan McNabb era before they finally landed a true home run threat in year eight with DeSean Jackson.

 

Panther fan logic would look at that list and say "the owner is cheap and cares about money more than winning", but reality is that hitting on receivers in the draft isn't always so easy.

 

Someone will ask "When are we gonna hit on a receiver then?"  Actually, we already did...twice.  There was Steve Smith, who's still around, and Muhsin Muhammad who provided us with plenty of good years.  So see, the team has hit before, just not for a while.

 

Someone else will throw in "Well, they got T.O."  Yes they did.  They also got rid of him a relatively short time later. 

 

"But he got them to a Super Bowl".  Yes.  Likewise Muhammad and Smitty got us to one,  Same result (minus the upchucking quaterback).

 

And if you wanna talk high profile free agents, there's that guy Keyshawn.

 

Bottom Line: Complete receivers are generally only found in the very highest picks, and sometimes not even there.  Guys drafted lower generally have at least one deficiency.  Sometimes they rise above (Smitty) and sometimes they don't (Armanti).

 

Here's hoping the team hits on one again soon.

 

(but don't think they're not trying)

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TheRed Newbie

TheRed

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Make all the excuses you want, but we have been terribly inept at acquiring wide receiver talent. Why? One man, Marty Hurney. He didn't even draft Steve Smith or Moose. Bust after bust after bust, I don't want to hear about how sometimes others miss, he was awful.

 

He couldn't even find anyone worth a damn through FA to pan out for more than one season.

 

Gettleman has his work cut out for him. He's already signed one dud, Hixon. We got damn lucky with Ginn.

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top dawg Grand Master

top dawg

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I know it's not unique to us.

 

Take a look at this list...

 

Gari Scott

Todd Pinkston

Troy Smith (not that one)

Freddie Mitchell

Freddie Milons

Billy McMullen

Reggie Brown

Jason Avant

 

Those are the receivers the Eagles drafted in the first seven years of the Donovan McNabb era before they finally landed a true home run threat in year eight with DeSean Jackson.

 

Panther fan logic would look at that list and say "the owner is cheap and cares about money more than winning", but reality is that hitting on receivers in the draft isn't always so easy.

 

Someone will ask "When are we gonna hit on a receiver then?"  Actually, we already did...twice.  There was Steve Smith, who's still around, and Muhsin Muhammad who provided us with plenty of good years.  So see, the team has hit before, just not for a while.

 

Someone else will throw in "Well, they got T.O."  Yes they did.  They also got rid of him a relatively short time later. 

 

"But he got them to a Super Bowl".  Yes.  Likewise Muhammad and Smitty got us to one,  Same result (minus the upchucking quaterback).

 

And if you wanna talk high profile free agents, there's that guy Keyshawn.

 

Bottom Line: Complete receivers are generally only found in the very highest picks, and sometimes not even there.  Guys drafted lower generally have at least one deficiency.  Sometimes they rise above (Smitty) and sometimes they don't (Armanti).

 

Here's hoping the team hits on one again soon.

 

(but don't think they're not trying)

 

I get what you're saying, but it's not like the Eagles are the epitome of excellence when it comes to drafting WRs.  I can easily argue that they lost the Super Bowl and on other opportunities to get there because they only had one serious threat at WR at the time.

 

BTW, D-Jax is not their only threat that they've drafted in fairly recent history. I can easily argue that Jeremy Maclin is their most complete WR.

 

__________

 

 

 

Regardless of what the reasons are, we've basically stunk up the joint.

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