Gruden - Newton

Pike had to sit out OTA's last summer because of school rules. And he didn't get that much work during preseason. So being inexperienced is expected.

You'll get no argument from me that Pike is raw and needs lots of work. And I'm with you that having a few more seasons to develop would be ideal. That's kinda what the practice squad is for.

But where does his inexperience exclude him from the conversation?

 

I think people think Cam has amazing potential because he's athletic. Which, there are a lot of athletic prospects. Who fucking cares if he's athletic. If Mallett were more accurate he would be my QB.

 

In my opinion three guys have a chance; McElroy, Yates, Stanzi. No particular order.

 

No position is selected in the top 10 nearly as often as quarterbacks because teams don't get stupid about other positions the way they do about quarterbacks. Again, compare where Newton & Gabbert were ranked by most analysts six months ago. What really changed between then and now besides the incessant need to hype the 1-2 "best" quarterback prospects? Those two didn't actually get any better during that time period. Meanwhile you cite Sims, but people like magnus and I myself both declared in advance that he would be a bust since it was so easy to see. No draft position is foolproof, but DT is a much, much safer proposition overall than quarterback, in part because the qualities that make quarterbacks successful are less obvious than those that benefit positions like defensive tackle.

Come on, man. By posting this you're making it clear that you are ignoring reality and just want to justify your crush on Newton. B.J. Raji wasn't worth it? Good lord. And even though I agree that Dorsey, Ellis, and McCoy have not been elite, they've all made a significant impact on their defenses. Remember, you said "DT has seen quite a few draft busts that were selected highly also," which I think you now realize was completely wrong.

 

McCoy had two "stellar" games last year, and those were late in the season. I suspect he will improve, but he has not proven his worth to this point, and by no means was he an immediate-impact pick. It took him almost a full season to get into his groove.

The others, it took them time as well. Ellis has the most productive year of the crop in 2010, but Dorsey picked up his game, as well.

Suh was dominant on a Kris Jenkins "in his prime" level last year. That type of force inside would be impossible to pass up, if available at #1. It's not, and that speaks to the mediocre grade of talent, overall, in this year's class.

Taking a QB #1 overall just to do it makes no sense. If they talent evaluators, coaches and GM all feel Newton can have an impact by, say, year two--then I'll simply deal with it.

My view on Hurney is not that he's a complete idiot. He's more of a sociopath, with a reckless track record of obscure, out of the blue, snap-decisions. He learned some of that from Bethard--the trading of picks, in particular. Some of Hurney's picks and FA's have turned out great. In fact, most of them have turned out well/good/great. We draft, overall, better than a lot of teams have in the past decade.

Armanti? Well, yes. He was a douchefuck for making that trade.

 

Hurney is horrible at his job, not only in terms of how he has completely screwed the team with making trades that shouldn't be made and not making trades they should have, but also in a very long history of onerous contracts despite his supposed status as a "cap expert." Keep in mind that Hurney is not the one who makes the call on individual draft picks. He's not the one saying "let's get Beason." That's the team's scouting department and coaching staff.

 

Fair enough. Props to Don Gregory, as he administers the college scouting department. I am not privy to the organizational structure at Mint Street. If Hurney's singular role is to manage the cap and contract negotiations, then an argument can be made that he is amongst the league's least desirable GM's. If there's more to his role that involves his direct input into some of the positive moves that we have made, then the story changes a bit.

I'm not a huge fan, but I'm realistic enough to know my role.

Unless Hurney was in charge of personnel packages and play calling under Fox, I still put a large load of the blame on our relative mediocrity on JF. Glad he got us to the playoffs 3 times, and to a Super Bowl. Not glad that he made poor coaching decisions in 2004, 2006, 2007, 2009 that--arguably--cost the team a playoff berth. 2006 was inexplicable, in terms of Fox and his staff not managing games with more efficiency. Delhomme was given entirely too much freedom that season, and the thinking--I am sure--was that "well, he proved himself in 2005". No. He did not. He caught lightning in a bottle, and got a shitfuckton of help from his defense, field position and 89.

So, yea, Don Gregory: kudos.

 

Yeah, the Panthers' scouts don't get nearly enough credit, as they've been doing a good job for a while. Meanwhile I don't want it to seem like I hate Hurney. I have the same sort of feeling about him that I did Delhomme, in that each seems like a really nice guy who would be fun to have a beer with or listen to them tell stories, but I'm simply tired of them fucking up my favorite NFL team. The Delhomme contract and Edwards trade alone should have been enough to earn a dismissal, but Richardson is stubborn and makes decisions based on who he likes as a person. I still cringe when I remember that story about bringing Delhomme, Foster, Smith, Peppers, and Gross to his lake house and then talking about how Gross was more comfortable being a leader than Peppers. I believe that's why Gross is still here while Peppers isn't.

 

A little simplistic, but yeah. He is they guy directing us to draft Beason, but its not on his own, its based on the opinoins of his staff. Hurney is an administrator, a manager. If there's disagreement amoung the staff, he will try and build consensous, but he himself is not a talent evaluator, and has never pretended to be. He relies on the opinions and talents of others to do his job. The Michael Scott model for GMs.

However, he's become the "face of the franchise." He's no longer just the contract guy. He's the one going on more interviews, giving the state of the franchise, expressing "the franchise's" opinion on things. He's calling it "his team." And he's making the call to trade a high draft pick because someone told him Edwards was the bees knees.

 

Many evaluate, but you are correct: only one finger can fit on the trigger. It's Hurney making the final call, and when it comes to situations where there is not a consensus, he's the tie-breaker. Or, I would assume that's how they roll.