Part One: Is Marty Hurney on the Hot Seat? Analyzing Hurney's 2nd Stint as a Drafter

Past 3 Drafts (including notable undrafted free agents) :

2018: DJ Moore, Donte Jackson, Rashaan Gaulden, Ian Thomas, Marquis Haynes, Jermaine Carter Jr, Andre Smith, Kendrick Norton, Kyle Allen, Reggie Bonnafon

Marty Hurney was a mixed bag in 2018. DJ Moore has been a stud for the Panthers and simply a homerun pick in the 1st round with the threat to take it to the house anytime he touches the ball. While Donte Jackson has started all of his 3 seasons in the league, he has suffered lots of injuries, most recently being some lingering turf toe that has kept him off the field quite a bit in 2020. If he stays healthy, this will be a good pick. However, in the 3rd round, it's quite the opposite. Rashaan Gaulden has proved to be a bust, and quite frankly, no one knew why Hurney took him. Moving onto the 4th round, Ian Thomas keeps showing promise but hasn't taken flight in Joe Brady's offense yet. Marquis Haynes has been a nice situation pass rusher for the Panthers this year, recording 3 sacks on the season. Jermaine Carter Jr has been starting over Tahir Whitehead the past few weeks and has played decently, definitely an upgrade though. While Andre Smith and Kendrick Norton didn't stay on the team for very long, undrafted free agents Kyle Allen and Reggie Bonnafon have been nice finds for the Panthers. After starting most of the 2019 season after Cam got hurt, Allen played well enough to be traded to Washington for a 5th round pick. Reggie Bonnafon is a nice depth running back when put in action. Though injured this season, he showed some flashes for Matt Rhule and Co., enough to keep him around for next season.

Grade: B

2019: Brian Burns, Greg Little, Will Grier, Christian Miller, Jordan Scarlett, Dennis Daley, Terry Godwin, Jordan Kunaszyk

To be completely honest, Marty had a terrible draft in 2018. It's reminiscent of the 2011 draft class in which we got 1 superstar (Cam) and then the rest was not good at all. Hurney has proved to be fantastic in the 1st round in his tenure with the Carolina Panthers, and it doesn't stop with the pickup of Brian Burns. Burns is starting to get the recognition he deserves, and it's clear he was a draft day steal. Personally, with no bias, I'd take Brian Burns over Nick Bosa right now. Bosa is getting hurt too much and Burns has a lot more impact on the game. Trading up for Greg Little has proven to not be so good, getting benched in favor of Trenton Scott at left tackle. He's been given ample opportunity to prove himself as a franchise tackle and just hasn't lived up to expectations. In the 3rd round, we picked up what we hoped would be the future at the QB position after Cam in Will Grier, but whiffed pretty bad. He performed terribly, granted in a bad situation, when starting in Week 16 and 17 of his rookie season. Christian Miller has showed some promise as a situational pass rusher, but he opted out this season due to COVID, so we really don't know how much better he got in the offseason. Dennis Daley was a nice depth piece to get in the 6th round but he's dealt with multiple injuries as of late, after originally slated to start at left guard in Week One. Jordan Scarlett and Terry Godwin didn't stay very long on the squad but Godwin showed flashes of return ability in the preseason. Kunaszyk was a promising young linebacker getting praise from Kuechly but Rhule and Co. cut him in the shortened offsesaon.

Grade: D+

2020: Derrick Brown, Yetur Gross-Matos, Jeremy Chinn, Troy Pride Jr, Kenny Robinson, Bravvion Roy, Stantley Thomas-Oliver III, Omar Bayless, Sam Franklin, Myles Hartsfield

In 2020, the front office decided to go all defense, which resulted in historic draft class. Derrick Brown, while struggling with penalties, has looked like a very nice defensive tackle who knows how to stuff the run, while starting to develop his pass rush plan in the NFL. In the 2nd round, the Panthers got a DE to pair with Brian Burns in YGM, who has flashed his potential in spurts but has struggled with injuries and COVID a lot of his rookie year. He has been versatile for the defense, playing at both DE and then sliding in to rush from the inside. There is lots of optimism surrounding this young pass rusher going forward though. After trading up to the 64th pick, the Panthers got one of the biggest drafts steals in the past century! They selected defensive weapon Jeremy Chinn, the best pick by far. In Snow's defense, he's played at safety, linebacker, corner, and even defensive end! I assume Hurney wanted to skip the 3rd round because of his terrible drafting record there. Welp, I'm just happy we got such a great player at that spot. In the 4th round, we finally got a corner in the speedster Troy Pride Jr. who was thrown into the fire early but has shown some improvement though it be slight. In the 5th round, Kenny Robinson was a player who had a lot of hype surrounding him but has barely gotten on the field save for special teams snaps. Bravvion Roy in the 6th was a nice addition who has provided us with some good defensive line depth. In the 7th, Stantley Thomas-Oliver III has shown flashes of his potential with more development down the line but he has been a good tackler in limited action on defense and special teams. In undrafted free agency, we unearthed a few gems at safety in Sam Franklin and Myles Hartsfield. Both have earned quite a few snaps during games, with Sam Franklin having a few starts under his belt with the injury to Jeremy Chinn earlier in the season. Omar Bayless was an intriguing receiver we grabbed who had a great camp but was out for the season after going through knee surgery.

Grade: A

Over the last 3 years, Marty Hurney has been aight. He hasn't been terrible while not exactly wowing us year in and year out. However, this past year's class has been very good which gives him a boost to his overall grade.

Overall Grade: B

Let me know what you think in the comments below. ;)