FanHouse Marty Hurney

Who moved to the head of the NFL class during the draft? Find out with FanHouse's team-by-team 2009 Draft Grades.

John Fox and Marty Hurney have always done a good job selecting first-round talent. Since Fox took over the coaching reins in 2002, they've picked Julius Peppers, Jordan Gross, Chris Gamble, Thomas Davis, DeAngelo Williams, Jon Beason, Jonathan Stewart and Jeff Otah. So, yeah, not too shabby. This year, the Panthers didn't have a first-round pick, but somehow managed to stumble into first-round talent anyway, landing Everette Brown with the 43rd-overall pick in the draft.

With the draft approaching, we ignore projections and identify the dream scenario for each team in a series we call The Perfect Draft.

Yes, the Carolina Panthers are late to the party. But I thought it only appropriate given that the Cats have no first round pick in this year's NFL Draft. Of course, that's not necessarily a bad thing whatsoever. Last year, the Panthers traded this year's first-rounder (plus 2008's second and fourth round picks) for the Eagles' first round pick (No. 19 overall) and selected Jeff Otah. Carolina made the playoffs and looked like a Super Bowl contender late in the season.

Because the NFL season never ends, we present our 2009 Offseason Roadmaps for front offices to navigate through the summer.

John Fox and Marty Hurney headed into 2008 with their jobs on the line after an underwhelming 2007 that featured a whole lot of Mittens and not a lot of excitement in Charlotte. They decided to throw caution to the wind and play for "now" by trading their 2009 first-round pick for a chance to pick up both Jeff Otah and Jonathan Stewart in the first round of the draft.

With a healthy Jake Delhomme, Julius Peppers finally deciding to care, a road-grading offensive line and a rejuvenated Smash and Dash running game that featured DeAngelo Williams and Stewart, the Panthers surprised some people by winning the NFC South and looking like a Super Bowl-caliber squad.

On Thursday, ProFootballTalk.com posted word that Brett Favre's agent, Bus Cook, was floating the idea that his client would love to play for the Panthers. The Rock Hill Herald's Darin Gantt had to take time out from his Fourth of July preparations to shoot down the rumor, because, no matter where Favre may or may not want to play in 2008, Carolina is very happy with their current quarterback, Jake Delhomme.

And yesterday, we heard from pithy Panthers general manager Marty Hurney: "I don't know where these things come from." This motivated PFT's Mike Florio to give an impromptu lesson in child development:

Well, Marty, here's how it works. Human beings have vocal cords. At a point roughly between 18 and 30 months of age, human beings begin using their vocal cords to articulate words. By the time we reach adulthood, we use them all the freakin' time.

In this case, "these things" came from Cook using those vocal cords to talk to other people about Favre's desire to play for the Panthers.

So there you have it.

I'm pretty sure Hurney understands how these things work. That he chose not to comment on them hardly seems surprising since, you know, honesty is the best policy except when you're an NFL general manager. Either way, whatever Hurney knows doesn't change the fact that Delhomme's still the Panthers' starting quarterback.