11/05/24
January 12, 2005
Harrington era may be over in Detroit.: (A/S/L check req.) Millen continues his man-crush on Joey, while Mooch and his staff want to go another way. Is 3 years a long enough time to call a QB a bust?
Keep him, don't restructure his contract and then cross your fingers that Chuck Rogers stays healthy for longer than five minutes and see what you've got. If it doesn't work out you can bin him in 2006 for not much money, if it does then the Lions have a steady hand on the tiller. I think that, with another year under his belt, Jones in the backfield and the possibility of a healthy Rogers and Williams combined outside, Joey could reach the heady heights of above average/good. Are the Lions going to find more than that from a poor rookie quarterback class or trade for someone not familiar with their system?
posted by Mr Bismarck at 09:04 AM on January 12, 2005
The author of the article was on the radio this morning, and he said that there's no way the Lions will scrap Joey and start over with another rookie. My opinion is this: Millen will test the trade waters and study the FA market until the end of next month. If there's a viable starter, or even a capable backup for McMahon, then Joey's gone. If nothing materializes, he'll be here in '05. Thing is, Millen will do everything he can to keep Joey, because giving up on him means he has to admit he made a mistake with a high-profile draft pick. On a side note, Harrington has not been that bad in his tenure here. His accuracy is lacking, sure...but I'd like to know how many of his incompletions are from dropped balls...the Lions receivers have dropped a lot of passes the last 3 years. Az Hakim looks like Clifford Franklin sometimes, fer Chrissake. And I like McMahon...he's got a good arm, he's pretty accurate, and he's a lot more mobile than Harrington. I wonder how he'd look right now, if they had the last 3 years back, and he was the starter all that time...
posted by MeatSaber at 09:17 AM on January 12, 2005
There isn' t much to be said about the Lions play calling either...blaming their problems on Harrington is only the tip of the iceberg. Their offense doesn't work because its quite predictable... sig.
posted by sigity at 10:13 AM on January 12, 2005
Is 3 years a long enough time to call a QB a bust? Ask the San Diego Chargers.
posted by holden at 10:31 AM on January 12, 2005
Holden called it. There's a real good QB in Harrington. I hope the Lions are patient enough and smart enough to give him receivers with hands (not even good hands, just something past the wrist will be fine) before the defeatist attitude gets to him.
posted by chicobangs at 11:25 AM on January 12, 2005
This has Steve Mariucci's fingerprints all over it. He has not been a supporter of Harrington since he came to town. For example, there were several drops by receivers in the GB loss late in the season. When asked about the drops during the Monday presser, the first thing Mooch says is the the QB has to be more accurate. Mooch thinks of himself as a QB guru, as he had a hand in shaping the careers of Favre and Garcia. He wants his own QB and Harrington isn't the prototypical west coast offense QB. He's more effective when winging the ball downfield than when he's dinking and dumping. It would be financial suicide for the Lions to cut Harrington . But IF if does happen, it would show that Marriucci has the front office pull, not Matt Millen. Personally, I think they need to give him one more year. But, I will also add this. Harrington had some absolutely brutal games this season. If he just puts up average stats in those games, the Lions win 2 -3 more and they are in the playoffs...
posted by bawanaal at 11:52 AM on January 12, 2005
The bust label might be a tad premature, but I have a gut feeling Harrington might have to endure a change of scenery before he finds success.
posted by Proto_Helium at 12:38 PM on January 12, 2005
Hey, the Niners could use a decent QB. Maybe Millen wants to send us Harrington, the Lions 1st and 3rd round picks this year and 2nd and 3rd round picks next year. Plus maybe a quality defensive player, preferably lineman or secondary. Seem reasonable? I don't see Dorsey or Rattay as an answer, sadly.
posted by billsaysthis at 02:33 PM on January 12, 2005
That could be a solution, bill. Buffalo could use him, too. Bledsoe's not getting any younger, and there are a couple of receivers used to running long routes.
posted by chicobangs at 02:48 PM on January 12, 2005
Buffalo's got J.P. Lohsman to ruin first.
posted by yerfatma at 03:20 PM on January 12, 2005
My understanding with Buffalo is that they're committed to J.P. Losman as the quarterback of the future, and only didn't get him more snaps this year because they were unexpectedly a contender for a playoff spot.
posted by holden at 03:21 PM on January 12, 2005
Whoops ... looks like yerfatma beat me to the punch.
posted by holden at 03:22 PM on January 12, 2005
I'd take Harrington over in the Marine Mammals' locker room, if you're done with him, Steve. All Joey needs to really prove himself is a really shaky line to play behind.
posted by Mr Bismarck at 04:33 PM on January 12, 2005
Lohsman got hurt in pre-season, I think.
posted by yerfatma at 05:21 PM on January 12, 2005
All Joey needs to really prove himself is a really shaky line to play behind And he doesn't have that in Detroit?
posted by MeatSaber at 06:34 PM on January 12, 2005
And he doesn't have that in Detroit? Nobody does shaky like we do shaky. In orange.
posted by Mr Bismarck at 06:42 PM on January 12, 2005
Considering this was the first half year he had a running back who could put up more than 50 yards a game, and considering he's never played with 2 solid recievers before, I'd give him a limited chance again next year.