Never shop hungry.
Going to the grocery store starving might be the silliest mistake that Middle Americans commonly make. It's a rookie blunder that, unfortunately, many non-rookies make on a daily basis.
When you shop hungry, it messes with your mind. Everything looks amazing. You want it all, right then, right there. Busting open that box of doughnuts in isle 7 and mowing down doesn't seem like that disastrous of an idea in the moment.
What usually happens when you shop hungry? You buy crap.
Carolina Panthers general manager Dave Gettleman insists he did not "shop hungry" during last week's NFL draft.
Sure, the Panthers were starving for cornerbacks after rescinding Josh Norman's franchise tag. Gettleman responded by using three consecutive picks on corners. He only had five total picks in the entire draft.
The Panthers snagged James Bradberry in the second round, Daryl Worley in the third and Zack Sanchez in the fifth.
On face value, perhaps it appears the Panthers were so hungry for cover men, maybe they overvalued the position -- the same way those frozen taquitos don't look competely like bum-burning waste when you're famished at the supermarket.
Gettleman insists he had a second-round grade on both Bradberry and Worley, who were ranked much lower by some media analysts.
"You can't deny your need, but you can't overdraft, either," Gettleman said, via ESPN.com. "It's a fragile balance. It really is. If you overdraft a guy, you go to camp and you're just going to be ticked off, you're going to be cranky and you're going to be cranky with the kid and it ain't his fault.
"If he's a fifth-rounder and we drafted in the third, well then, shame on us. We really worked hard at not inflating the grades on the corners and making sure we don't, we call it, 'shop hungry.' "
Gettleman has displayed enough drafting prowess over the years that he deserves the benefit of the doubt on his picks. It's undeniable the Panthers had a gaping hole at corner. Gettleman filled that during the draft.
Time and performance will tell us whether he filled it with nutritious, hearty pieces, or junk that will cause him to be hungry again in a few months.
