I also ways like your takes on thing James, as you are always rational and considerate...
However, Benning did get Demko drafted (that was his scouts pick), He did draft Hughes, and most importantly, he did trade for Miller... Those moves were signed off by Benning... He also signed off on drafting McCann and Brock...
That he did a lot of garbage in-between is undeniable... But the Miller trade was really good.
I am chuffed to bits, that Aquilini finally saw sense and changed everything.
That we are seeing under JR/PA are light years away from what we saw under Benning, and the coaches they brought in, are all experienced coaches.
The way they went about their business to build a massive front office seem to have worked massively in our favour, both with drafting and with Pro scouting.
Its just disappointing that it took a decade for the owners to wake up and install a POH, who actually knew, what it takes to build a contender, instead of a rookie and and rookie GM that didn't share the same vision.