4 defining moments of Marty’s Hurney’s second stint as GM

First-round draft success

For all Marty Hurney’s faults – and there were many – his recent record of finding exceptional players at the top-end of the NFL Draft is unquestioned. This might seem like an easy thing to do from the outside looking in. But one only has to see how many teams across the league fail to accomplish this feat to know what a fine line taking college players becomes when it comes to the crunch.

Brian Burns is a prime example of this. The Carolina Panthers took him at No. 16 overall in 2019 and after a promising rookie campaign in a rotational role, the stud defensive end is now one of the league’s brightest young edge rushers after a phenomenal 2020 campaign.

Another that immediately jumps out is D.J. Moore, who was Carolina’s first-rounder in 2018. The former Maryland standout now has back-to-back 1,000-yard receiving seasons and is a selection that Carolina and Hurney struck gold with in no uncertain terms.

There was plenty of pressure on Hurney to select Isaiah Simmons over Derrick Brown at No. 7 overall earlier this year. The Clemson linebacker fell out of the top-five much to everyone’s surprise, but the Panthers held firm and went with their original choice that is proving to be the right call.

Brown has gradually risen in stature as the season’s gone on and his contribution at the Packers was a coming-out party that left plenty of reasons to be encouraged moving forward.