Posts tagged JoeyHarrington at FanHouse

One of the big questions over at ajc.com is whether D.J. Shockley or Joey Harrington will be the Falcons No. 3 quarterback. The proper answer will be none of the above.

With Matt Ryan set as a the team's quarterback for years to come, what the Falcons should be looking for is a quarterback who could eventually become a solid No. 2. And if he can develop into a potential trade chip down the road (a la Matt Schaub) that''s all the better. Neither of the two candidates fit that role.

Joey Harrington deserved better than the treatment he got from coach Bobby Petrino. But at this point, there's no real reason to keep him as a No. 3 quarterback. He's a completely known commodity, who could be a reliable backup in a best-case scenario, but gives no real advantages as a No. 3. If the Falcons were forced to turn to Harrington, it means the season is already in the tank--with Matt Ryan and Chris Redman hurt. And at that point, there's not that much difference between Harrington and some of the QBs the Falcons could find looking for work.

Great news for Falcons fourth-string quarterback D.J. Shockley: head coach Mike Smith says the starting job is wide open. Of course, that's what every coach currently without a bona fide starter is saying, and realistically, Shockley has about as good a shot at the gig as Joey Harrington has of being traded to the Lions and taking them to the Super Bowl. Which, at about a million to one means there's still a chance.

"We'll have a rotation so that all of our quarterbacks have an opportunity to work early," Smith said. "That's something that we want to do, to give every guy an opportunity to compete for the starting job."

Matt Ryan, the team's first-round pick and next franchise quarterback, offers his thoughts on the process:

"I think there's no right or wrong way to do it. If it were an exact science, then everybody would follow the same protocol. As a competitor and a player, I think that you want to be out on the field and you want to have the ball in your hands."

As JJ Cooper pointed out yesterday, this is basically a two-horse race: Ryan vs. Chris Redman. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes that Harrington and Shockley are each "in a battle for his NFL life", which sounds about right. However this shakes out over the next month, come December, there's a good possibility Ryan's under center for the duration. I don't like to make predictions, but I'm guessing his career ends up a little less gruesome than his predecessor's.

I suspect there is a non-trivial contingent of 49ers fans who would welcome the scenario put forth by the Press Democrat's Matt Maiocco: if Shaun Hill wins the starting quarterback job, the team should cut their losses on Alex Smith.

For the record, Maiocco thinks Smith will be the opening-day starter, but since he doesn't have final say on personnel decisions, he just wants to cover his bases. Fair enough.

If Hill wins the job . . . let me stress this, IF SHAUN HILL WINS THE JOB . . . Alex Smith will have lost his starting role in his fourth season - a year in which he would be expected to shine. And if that happens, the 49ers should take drastic, yet appropriate, action. If Smith is not the starter, the 49ers should sever ties with him before the start of the regular season.

It would be the right thing to do for the organization and it would be the right thing to do for Smith.

You know, it's hard to argue with any of this. I like Smith and think he's faced some pretty tough odds since coming into the league (thanks, Jim Hostler, for doing your part!). That said, this is the NFL, where the average career lasts four years.

I understand that there are statues with more mobility than Byron Lefwich, and Daisuke Matsuzaka has a more compact windup, but looking over some of the names of quarterbacks currently populating NFL rosters, you have to wonder how he has yet to find work. (Actually, I know the answer, but just for the sake of discussion...)

But here we are, almost to July, and Leftwich is still unemployed. As I mentioned earlier this month, a lot of teams around the league are concerned about Leftwich's injury history; sure, David Carr or Joey Harrington or Kyle Boller might all be less skilled players, but they can take a hit. A bunch of them, in fact.

Good news, though: Leftwich has an ally in Brian Billick:

Billick, now a game analyst for Fox, liked Leftwich enough in college that the Ravens tried to work a deal with the Minnesota Vikings to trade up in the draft. But in an infamous draft day snafu, the Vikings took too much time - some say the Jaguars intentionally stalled them - and lost the pick, allowing Jacksonville to take Leftwich...

"He can throw it," Billick said of Leftwich. "There's never been a question about his ability. He's got one of those unique arms. He proved to be fairly accurate..."

So, in a sense, we have Mike Tice to thank for ruining Leftwich's career. Somehow that makes perfect sense.

via PFT

I think the obvious answer to that question is no. Realistically speaking, there have been far worse quarterbacks in the NFL than the piano man, I mean, there's got to be a reason guys are sitting below him on depth charts even though we're far removed from any semblance of hope that he'd live up to his draft status. But what if you take into account the whole statistical shebang, including the amount of opportunities with which to suck? That might be a different story.

Or at least that's what Pro Football Reference thinks, as they've compiled their list of worst quarterbacks in the league's history, which -- if your surname isn't Imus -- you should be smart enough to realize is headlined by Joey Harrington. The reasoning is a stew of numbers and equations (here's the method behind the madness). It's definitely worth checking out for the comprehensive perspective it takes, even if it took me three reads and the assistance of a Mensa member to understand.

That being said, I'm a firm believer in the eyeball test, and I stand by my very subjective scientific opinion that Harrington isn't the worst. There are surely a couple of inferior quarterbacks in history. There are even a couple of current quarterbacks who are worse. Hell, there are a couple of quarterbacks currently on the Chicago Bears who are worse than Harrington.

Or maybe I've just got a soft spot for someone who can tickle the ivories.

DeAngelo Hall speaks his mind. Sometimes it gets him in trouble, sometimes he makes sense, and sometimes it's just funny. His recent comments about Bobby Petrino fall into the last category:

Hall, now in Oakland, sticks by his guns with his disdain for Petrino as an NFL coach. Yet, Hall said he will give Petrino the benefit of doubt when it comes to his new gig at Arkansas, which Petrino took before finishing his first season in Atlanta.

"I hate him as an NFL coach, but I think he is a good college coach," Hall said. "He is proven. I think he will do a good job at Arkansas. He has shown he can coach in the college game, but the NFL is a different thing, totally different.

Hall adds that Petrino "may be good with 17-, 18-year-old kids ... but in the NFL, you are dealing with 27-, 28-year-old grown men who have their own kids." And like him or not, Hall's exactly right. I mean, when Joey Harrington doesn't have anything nice to say about you, there's a pretty good chance you're going to hell.

On the upside, it sounds like Arkansas got a real winner. When not engaging in cowardly acts, anyway.

NBA Essentials ranks our six favorite stories of the day.

1. The Sporting Blog: Shoals on the humanization of Kobe Bryant.

2. Hardwood Paroxysm: Forget what I said, David West should actually mouth off more.

3. Gilbert Arenas: If Antawn Jamison isn't in Washington, then Gilbert's not staying either.

4. Supersonicsoul: The Sonics are staying in Seattle!

5. We Rite Goode: Why Chris Paul is smarter than Janeane Garafolo.

6. Basketbawful: Spurs-Hornets summed up in a single photo.

This is probably a good idea: after the whole Michael Vick fiasco, the Atlanta Falcons have decided not to feature Matt Ryan as the "face of the franchise."

There were some segments of the internets that considered the Ryan selection a publicity stunt, but, well, that's just silly; the recently deposed face of the franchise is currently incarcerated for first-degree (puppy) murder, and Joey Harrington and Chris Redman aren't exactly guys you can build a team around. That the Ravens were trying to trade up and grab Ryan further suggests that NFL teams in the market for a quarterback considered him worth a top-5 pick (and everybody knows that Baltimore has a keen eye for identifying quarterback talent).

In any case, the Falcons front office will have a new marketing strategy for 2008:

Newly drafted quarterback Matt Ryan will not be a prime player in an advertising campaign planned by the Atlanta Falcons to try to rebuild the team's sagging season-ticket base. ...

"I don't think we're going to sit there and try to harp on one player," said Falcons president Rich McKay, who oversees the team's business operations. "It doesn't mean [Ryan] won't have some appearances or that you won't see him in the community, but I don't think he'll be the focus of our campaign."

For some idea of how bad things were last season, the Falcons saw a steep decline in season-ticket renewals, even though they cut prices. Four wins and myriad off-the-field nuttiness has that effect, Personally, I'm hoping the team builds a marketing strategy around Sam Baker. That guy looks like he can move some season tickets.

Of course, the premise in the above headline is ridiculous -- Matt Millen certainly isn't getting unfair treatment from Lions fans and, if it's even possible, should probably get worse.

But Drew Sharp finally puts down his pitchfork to play devil's advocate -- maybe all the Lions' first-round blunders aren't his fault?

Only once has the team's early selections exemplified the kind of mouth-frothing football Millen identified with as a player. And that was his first draft in 2001, when he focused exclusively on the interior line ....

Joey Harrington was ownership's pick. Charles Rogers, Roy Williams and Mike Williams in successive years were Steve Mariucci's brainstorm. Ernie Sims was Rod Marinelli's idea. Calvin Johnson was Mike Martz's obsession.

Of course, Millen can still be blamed for hiring these poor drafters and signing off on the picks (except Sims, who so far looks great), but the point remains -- these were not Millen's choices. And two of the top three players in the '01 crop he picked -- Jeff Backus and Shaun Rogers -- turned out to be significantly less than anticipated themselves.

I don't agree that Millen has to take the reins this year; he should finally make this Marinelli's team. And I don't agree that the Lions "must" pick a rookie Pro Bowler this year; that's just setting an unrealistic goal. All the Lions have to do is resist the temptation to take a running back and address one of the lines. They'll get a good, impactful, immediate contributor if they do, and Ray Rice will still be there in the second.

Pete Prisco of CBS Sports has written a column in which he says he's baffled that former Jaguars and Falcons quarterback Byron Leftwich, an unrestricted free agent, hasn't managed to sign a contract this off-season -- or even, apparently, to be offered a contract. Leftwich says he wants to have a job within the next five weeks:

"I know I'll get on somewhere," Leftwich said. "As long as it's not football season, I'm not going to worry that much. I want to get somewhere before the draft so I can have time to learn a new system."

Prisco goes into all the possible reasons that teams aren't interested in Leftwich, but he neglects the one really obvious one: Leftwich is a terrible quarterback.

Last year, playing in the same offense as Joey Harrington, Leftwich's completion percentage was 6.2% lower than Harrington's. Leftwich's average yards per attempt was 1.6 yards lower than Harrington's. Leftwich threw interceptions more often than Harrington. He threw touchdown passes less often than Harrington. He was sacked more often than Harrington.

If Harrington wasn't a highly sought free agent -- and he wasn't; he ultimately accepted a pay cut to stay in Atlanta -- why on earth would anyone think Leftwich would be a highly sought free agent? Some team will sign Leftwich as a second- or third-stringer at some point during the off-season, but no one should be surprised that teams view signing Leftwich as a last resort. He simply isn't good enough to be anything else.