Pop quiz: Let's say you are Bobby Petrino, first year coach of the Atlanta Falcons, still reeling from the Michael Vick debacle and let's say you are presented with a choice of starting quarterbacks: either Joey Harrington or Byron Leftwich. What would you do?
The obvious solution is to cancel the season and try your luck with the Brian Brohm/Andre Woodson sweepstakes, but that's not an option. So which is it? Harrington or Leftwich? Do you pick the perennial underachiever or the guy who just got cut in favor of another quarterback?
When greeted with such a dilemma, most people's knee-jerk reaction would be to start Leftwich mainly because of Harrington's reputation... but before you answer, let's look at a little closer at the particulars involved.
As mentioned, Byron Leftwich, after a semi-successful stint at Jacksonville was cut in favor of David Garrad, who was particularly less heralded than his predecessor. The reasons for Leftwich's release are related to his work ethic, poor mechanics and his inability to move around the pocket (or out of it for that matter). With such a glowing critique, it's no wonder Leftwich was shown the door by Jacksonville coach Jack Del Rio.
While it's true Jacksonville won when Leftwich was the quarterback, he owed a great deal of that to the team surrounding him. During his reign, the Jags had a dominant defense and a good running attack, meaning all Leftwich had to do to keep his job was play Trent Dilfer/Baltimore Raven football and not make mistakes; something that obviously eluded him, otherwise, he wouldn't have been cut.
A closer look at his career stats furthers the knocks on Leftwich's game:
First of all, he's never completed a full season, meaning he's injury-prone. He's never thrown more than 15 touchdowns in the seasons he did stay on the field and he's had double-digit interceptions two out of the five full seasons he's played. Leftwich's best year was 2005 where he played 11 games, threw for 2000-plus yards and had 15 touchdowns with only 5 interceptions.
However, a lot of this credit goes to the quality of talent Leftwich had surrounding him. Having a sterling defense and a great running game takes a whole lot of pressure away from the quarterback position; something Joey Harrington has not had the joy of experiencing. Throw in the rumors of Leftwich's poor work ethic and he becomes less and less attractive of an option.
Of course, it's not like Harrington has set the world on fire, either. In fact, he's done just about the opposite. Starting his career in Detroit, the future looked bright for Joey "Heisman." He had, on paper anyway, a good receiving corps and decent running game, especially when Kevin Jones emerged. However, Matt Millen, Detroit's general manager, made some absolutely baffling draft-day moves and never built a solid team around Harrington, especially where it matters the most: the offensive line. Because of this, Harrington struggled mightily.
After his stay at Detroit, Harrington spent a lackluster season with Miami, but again, you can blame the lack of talent as much as you can blame Harrington, a fact at least some Dolphin fans agreed with:
When comparing the two strictly as quarterbacks, it comes down to this: even with an exceptional team around him, Leftwich underachieved. However, even though Harrington played on piss-poor teams, his stats outperformed Leftwich's on a regular basis. Harrington's career high for touchdowns in a season is 19 (he only threw 12 picks that year as well), whereas Leftwich has a career high of 15... and again, that's with a much better team around him.
To wit, during Harrington's stay in Detroit, the Lions never won more than 6 games. On the other hand, the Jags won 12 games in 2005 and 9 games in 2004, although, Leftwich wasn't the catalyst for these wins because he's so injury prone. He only played in 17 total games during these two seasons. Whereas with Detroit, Harrington played less than 14 games only once, indicating he's much more durable than his counterpart and more productive... even when he's on a sorry team (something the 2007 Atlanta Falcons embody to a T).
The biggest concern for Harrington is his propensity to throw interceptions, but it's hard to be an accurate quarterback when your offensive line plays like a sieve, forcing you to fire the ball out before plays can develop.
Former Dallas Cowboy, Troy Aikman took up for Harrington in 2005 by saying he can still be a good quarterback in the NFL and he was NOT to blame for Detroit's failures (that distinction belongs to Millen). Aikman's thoughts were echoed by Phil Simms as well.
In order to succeed in Petrino's system (take it from UK fan who watched Petrino's Louisville Cardinals dismantle the Cats with sterling passing attacks), you need to have a quarterback that can make quick decisions and can get rid of the ball quickly, two things that have NEVER been attributed to Leftwich. However, Harrington can and if he's given enough time, he tends to make adequate choices with his passes.
When deciding between the two, many people will look at last week's loss to the Titans, which saw Harrington pulled in favor of Byron, only to see Leftwich go 1-2 with an interception, a move the Atlanta press did not agree with. From their perspective, Petrino should not have replaced Harrington. In fact, it was the coach's play-calling that got the majority of their ire, something Atlanta Falcon bloggers endorse.
To make a long story short, I'm going to go with Joey Harrington over Byron Leftwich; although, neither quarterback is the most attractive of options. But since you have to play the cards you're dealt, Harrington just fits Petrino's system better than the cumbersome Leftwich... and apparently, Coach Petrino thinks so as well.
Harrington was named the starter for the Falcons game against the New York Giants on Monday. However, a part of me feels the Falcons are just biding their time until the 2008 draft so they can have a shot at either Brohm or Woodson, two quarterbacks Petrino is quite familiar with.
Until then, ride or die with Joey Harrington, an idea Coach Petrino apparently endorses:
"It's in our best interest and gives us our best chance to succeed to stay with Joey," Petrino said Monday (10/8). "He understands our offense. He knows what we want to do, what we want to execute."
It also helps that Leftwich is already hurt, even though he's only been with the Falcons for a couple of weeks now.
Joey Heisman FTW.
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While most of the player hype is focused on Patterson, I personally can't wait to see Alex Legion. I got to watch him in a couple of scrimmages during the summer and let me just say this kid is INCREDIBLY explosive. 