Pro Football Weekly and Riddell present ...
2002 NFL draft
Unhappy camper
Adding QB can’t sit well with McMahon
By Nolan Nawrocki, Associate editor of special projects
April 20, 2002
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| Detroit QB Mike McMahon, who is expected to open the Lions’ season
as the starter, can’t be happy with this pick. Detroit CEO and president Matt Millen
was believed to be more interested in improving the Lions’ defense early, while
offensive-minded head coach Marty Mornhinweg was high on plugging Oregon QB Joey
Harrington into his West Coast offense. The knock on McMahon coming out of Rutgers was
that he wasn’t an accurate passer. In three starts this past season, McMahon
completed 53-of-115 passes, completing 46.1 percent of his passes. By drafting
Harrington, Mornhinweg proved he is not satisfied with the progress McMahon has made in
his rookie season after being a fifth-round pick last year. McMahon will now have to look
over his shoulder the same way Charlie Batch had to do last season. As a quarterback, you
like to know your coach has confidence in you and is not going to pull you out of the game
after a few mistakes. If McMahon struggles, don’t expect it to take long for
Harrington to see action. McMahon now knows his time is limited, and he must win games to
keep his job. Mornhinweg and Millen didn’t pick a quarterback with their first pick
to ride the pine. They will try to develop him as quickly as possible.
Harrington has great size, quick feet and all the makings of a great leader. Some NFL
teams had him rated higher on their draft boards than David Carr. He has the intangibles
to be a great quarterback, but some scouts feel he must improve his arm strength. While I
think Harrington will be a great quarterback in the league, I do not think the Lions
served their purposes by taking a quarterback so early. I think they would have been
better served by filling their need at cornerback and selecting Texas CB Quentin Jammer.
But Millen is satisfied with his pick, ribbing the Texans for picking Carr, saying
"Ford Motor Company has a lot of good cars, now they have a good quarterback."
Look for a corner in the next round. |
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