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Lions QB
Joey Harrington
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The Lions are still searching for direction. This much is clear after they made Oregon
QB Joey Harrington their first-round pick in the 2002 NFL draft.
You say Harrington gives the Lions direction? Perhaps. He led the Ducks to the Pac-10
title last season and a whuppin’ of Colorado in the Fiesta Bowl. And according to
Lions president and CEO Matt Millen, Harrington has "all the things you look for in a
quarterback."
But there’s also the little matter of QB Mike McMahon, Detroit’s fifth-round
pick in ’01 who showed flashes of ability late last season. The Rutgers product could
have a big say in when and if Harrington sees the field. Remember, the Lions traded up 31
spots on Day Two of the draft to claim McMahon.
And he’ll enter training camp first on the depth chart.
"He is familiar with the system, and he understands the offense," Millen said
of McMahon. "We have been drilling him and going through all these things. That part
is good. There are still parts that he has to develop, or we wouldn’t have taken Joey
Harrington.
"But that’s not the point. The point of this whole thing is that the
quarterback position is a position that is going to be a solid position here in Detroit.
That is what we are committed to."
So before McMahon even has the chance to work out those "parts that he has to
develop," the Lions are bringing in his successor and placing him squarely on his
shoulder. That way, McMahon won’t have to strain his neck to look behind him.
McMahon, you might recall, nearly pulled a rabbit out of his hat against the Packers
last Thanksgiving in the first significant action of his career. With the Lions trailing
29-13, he engineered two TD drives in the final seven minutes to pull the team within two
points.
Though he failed to connect on the two-point conversion, a statement was made. Sure,
McMahon was as raw as a frozen steak, but he showed he could make plays.
"Mike McMahon is ‘the guy,’ and he has a year of experience and a year
of training," Lions head coach Marty Mornhinweg said. "We all know the time and
effort and energy that we put into training a quarterback, and Joey Harrington will start
that. We will see how fast and how far Joey Harrington will go."
We will indeed, but at the expense of McMahon? Not that he’s the next Brett Favre
or anything, but McMahon has earned the chance to prove himself after a year’s worth
of tutelage. The Lions can’t give up on one quarterback just to save the other.
Of course, this issue could have been avoided if the Lions had selected Texas CB
Quentin Jammer with the third pick — and don’t think it wasn’t hard for
Millen to pass him up.
"Very hard," he said.
There’s no question Jammer was the easier pick, and Millen admitted as much. With
CB Bryant Westbrook now in Dallas, there’s an opening in Detroit’s secondary,
which already underwent a much-needed makeover in free agency. Promising safeties Brian
Walker and Corey Harris were signed, so it would have made sense to keep retooling by
drafting Jammer, the top-ranked corner on many boards.
The Lions still could have drafted a quarterback later on, though obviously one not as
talented as Harrington. But there’s a precedent here, and the Lions only had to look
one pick before them.
The Panthers, former owners of the second overall pick, also have a sticky QB
situation. Last season they watched Chris Weinke post the second-lowest passer rating
among NFL qualifiers en route to a 1-15 record. Their backup is currently Rodney Peete.
Sticky? It’s messy.
But with that No. 2 pick, the Panthers selected DE Julius Peppers, the best defensive
end available and perhaps the best player available. They were comfortable enough with
Weinke to pass on Harrington and focus on their pass rush, which produced only 26 sacks
last season, fourth-worst in the league.
Weinke was a fourth-round pick. The Lions’ McMahon was a fifth-round pick.
But picks shouldn’t enter the equation here, and the starting quarterbacks of
Super Bowl XXXVI serve as proof. New England’s Tom Brady was a sixth-round pick, and
St. Louis’ Kurt Warner wasn’t a pick.
The difference between the situations in Charlotte and Detroit could have come down to
the head coaches. Panthers head coach John Fox is a defensive guru. He spent the last five
seasons building his résumé as the Giants’ defensive coordinator and should devise
many ways to best use Peppers. Michael Strahan became a stud on Fox’s watch.
Mornhinweg is a QB guru who has worked with Brett Favre in Green Bay and Jeff Garcia in
San Francisco. And Mornhinweg badly wanted the chance to work with Harrington.
The coach got his wish. But as the saying goes, be careful what you wish for.
The 2002 season could be a very trying one for Detroit, and entering with two young
quarterbacks is just one reason. Holes on defense remain unfilled, the WR corps is largely
unproven and the offensive line is still a work in progress.
Gee, maybe the Lions should have traded down. (Millen says interest in the No. 3 pick
was minimal.)
The company line is this: We couldn’t pass up the chance to draft a potential
franchise quarterback. They don’t come around very often.
Really? Then how is it that four of the last five drafts have begun with quarterbacks
being taken off the board?
My line is this: It’s important the Lions go with the hot hand, no matter what
round that hand was picked.
The Lions better be careful how they handle their two young signalcallers, because if
by figuring out which one to start, they ruin the other — or both — they’ll
be back where they started. |
