In 2002, the Lions, a franchise with nothing to be proud of in the past 20 years other then Barry Sanders, drafted with the 3rd overall pick, Joey Harrington, Quarterback from Oregon.
A lot since has happened
Basically within the past 4 years, the Lions have done what they do best, lose. Harrington had a 18-37 record as a starter, and the Lions were never close to anything. Today they announced that Harrington will no longer be a Lion. The Lions have been horrible and many fans blame Joey...
But is he to blame?
Yes, his record is terrible, but he has never really had a team around him. The Lions D has sucked for a long time. They drafted a bunch of receivers in the first round, Roy Williams is always hurt, Charles Rogers has problems, and Mike Williams hasn't proven anything yet. The Lions have gone through 3 different coaches, Mornhinweg, Jauron, and Mariucci.
His stats aren't great, in 2002 and 2003 his stats were that of a young QB. In 2004 his numbers weren't terrible, and last year, weren't as bad as they could be. Harrington has played on a terrible team for 4 years, and it really isn't all his fault that they can't win. Harrington needs to go somewhere new so he can start fresh.
The Lions Future?
I'm not sure it is so good. Their other QB's aren't anything great. Kitna is old, and other then 2003, has never had a very good year. King has never really done anything, and Orlovsky hasn't proven jack. That leaves a likely candidate, Josh McCown, who was average in his seasons for the Cardinals. However the Lions hired Mike Martz as a offensive cooridinator, and he is a offensive genius. He made Warner into a MVP, and Bulger into a good QB as well. With a solid young RB (Kevin Jones) and a healthy Roy Williams, the Lions could slowly develop an offense without Joey.
Harrington's Future?
I wonder where Joey goes now, being a Lion for his entire career. One place comes to mind, Oakland. He can't be much worse then Kerry Collins. Harrington is younger, and Randy Moss can make any QB look good. Another place I could see is Baltimore, Boller hasn't really proven anything, and Joey could be the insurance if Boller has another disapointing year. What about Buffalo? Is J.P. Losman any good? He could be insurance there as well. Maybe "Da Bears" or the Vikings? How about the 49ers, being that Alex Smith sucks royally, and looks more like a Ryan Leaf type bust.
It will be fun to see where Joey goes, he still has a few years to prove that he is a talented QB, and not a bust like many say he is.
I for one would be more than happy to him come to Oakland.
I agree, these next couple of years are going to be the years to make or break Joey.
Four years in Detroit would hurt any QB's stats. Look at how many different QB's were there the same time Barry was...too many.
For whatever reason QB's in Detroit are best used to hand off the ball to good RB's and not make mistakes.
Green Bay and Minnesota for that same reason are the only teams in the NFC north that traditionally have had good QB's.
Hopefully the Raiders can pick up Joey and not trade up for the Leinert Bust and the Vince Young (Kordell Stewart) deal.
So they can save the money to build a defense.
I would take Joey over Losman anyday of the week.
Being a Bill's fan (yeah I know they suck) it was horrible to watch them loose because of a crappy QB. Unlike Harrington , Losman had weapons !
Mcgahee,Moulds,Evans,Reed all pretty good football players and Losman couldn't get it done. So the Bills were to sign Harrington I would be pleased to see it and the outcome of the Harrington/Holcomb/Losman training camp.
In my mind it is the typical Lions move, pass the blame and keep paying the #### lol. Any team that keeps Millen year after embarassing year needs thier head examined. Joey will end up elsewhere as a backup, get his chance to start via injury and be a star. He has talent, he just needs some protection, don't say that to loud though, NFL teams think it is a curse word or something.
While his team and organization didn't do him any favors, Joey H was a bad player on a bad team, and surely his confidence will be too shot now to do anything noteworthy in the rest of his career, i assume he's set for 6/7 years of clipboard duty...
Its true the Lions really never gave him anything to work with, you have to expect him to fail. Same with David Carr, he has talent, but his line is AWFUL.
I think the Raiders would be a smart move, they need a younger QB. Collins isn't super good anyway, so why not bring in Joey to at least learn from Kerry as a backup.
The Bills wouldn't be bad either, but I don't think Losman has really gotten a chance to prove himself yet.
I wonder how Millen still has a job, every Lions fan wants him gone, yet they are dumb enough to keep him. No wonder they always lose.
There must be no lions fans on the board because I was expecting to he harrington get bashed, but i guess he is likeable so we can not hate him but he is an underachiever regardless, not tim couch though, who could still play in the league.
What would he learn from Collins? He already has two INT's to every TD. I guess he could learn how to be an alcoholic and a quitter from Kerry. Sorry, still a bitter Carolina fan over what he did to us.
Mornhinweg, Jauron, and Mariucci? More like Mornhinweg and Mariucci.
I think Joey is a stand up guy, and I honestly thought this last season was shaping up to be better. And just like every year, it doesn't.
Are the Fords stupid for keeping Millen, YES.
Should Joey leave town, Yes as well.
He is a good QB, no doubt, but he needs another (fresh) start. I think he would be a relatively inexpensive steal for a team like Baltimore or Chicago.
Man, it`s funny how quick people are to rip into Alex Smith. Then you defend Joey and say that his supporting cast isn`t good enough. What receiver was Smith throwing to?
This is a obvious case of a total subjective opinion.
Why did Mariucci try to replace him so badly?
Why didn`t Mornihgnweg want him?
Didn`t a previous offensive coordinator resign and say that the franchise would never win with him?
Haven`t his teammates ripped into him enough?
I hope Joey success, but you looked for answers for him, and read Alex Smith`s statline like a true educated fan.
(Yes I cheer for the 49ers)
