Teams
- Detroit Lions (2002-2005)
- Miami Dolphins (2006)
- Atlanta Falcons (2007)
- New Orleans Saints (2008)
“It’s difficult to build a trust and relationship that you have to have in order to play football at that speed and at that level. So it was really tough for me when I was putting out a lot of effort and not getting it in return. Because of that, I feel I didn’t have the confidence in myself and in our team.”
-Joey Harrington (source)
The 2002 NFL Draft was a tough one for quarterbacks. Of the 16 signal callers taken, only one (David Garrard) ever made a Pro Bowl team. While not the first QB taken in the draft (that was David Carr at #1 overall), Joey Harrington is perhaps the one labeled as the biggest bust of the bunch. With high expectations, “Joey Heisman” out of Oregon never quite made the mark that was anticipated. But considering the situation in Detroit at the time, it’s not necessarily hard to understand either.
It took all of two relief appearances during his rookie campaign in 2002 before Joey Harrington got the call. He was taking over a 2-14 Lions team that was 26th in scoring offense, and 30th in scoring defense, the previous year. While his maiden start was decidedly mixed (two TDs and four picks in a loss to Green Bay in Week 3), he immediately established legitimacy the following two weeks. Going 1-1, Harrington averaged 288 yards passing, threw three touchdowns to only one interception, and eclipsed passer ratings of 90.0 in both contests. Unfortunately, the rookie’s play slowly declined. While he would go 3-9 in his starts (a one-game improvement for the Leos from the previous season), he finished the year with a passer rating of 59.9 and threw 16 picks to only 12 TDs.
Still, everyone in Motown knew it would be a learning experience for their young quarterback, and in the offseason GM Matt Millen gifted Joey with a present in #2 overall pick Charles Rogers, a star wideout from Michigan State. A bonus prize was in new head coach Steve Mariucci, who had seen great success in previous seasons with Steve Young and Jeff Garcia as his quarterbacks in San Francisco. The Lions did see some improvement as Harrington would start all 16 games, resulting in a 5-11 record. But the team continued to struggle on both ends of the football, finishing in the bottom 10 in offensive and defensive scoring. Harrington would exceed 250 yards passing in only one contest, and throw a league-most 22 interceptions. His 17 TD passes were an improvement, but four of them came in Week 1 against Arizona.
With faith that his quarterback would thrive in Year 3, Millen would select wide receiver Roy Williams, out of Texas, with the #7 overall pick. Now Harrington would have two young weapons at wideout. He responded much better, trimming his interceptions nearly in half, to 12, over all 16 games. He also ended up with 19 touchdowns. But it would be without Charles Rogers, who broke his collarbone in Week 1 and missed the entire year. Meanwhile, starts of 2-0, 3-1, and 4-2 collapsed under the weight of a midseason five-game losing streak, and the Lions crawled to the finish line at 6-10.
Make or break was the scenario for 2006. And to help their quarterback, the team drafted… another wide receiver… in Mike Williams out of USC. The previous year’s pick, Roy Williams, would play fairly well, his 687 yards from scrimmage were second on the team while adding 8 TDs. But rookie Mike Williams struggled to gain regular playing time, and Charles Rogers was suspended for substance abuse. Sadly, it would be Rogers’ final year in the league. He would struggle with drug use the rest of his life, until his untimely death in 2019. The result was a helpless quarterback who struggled to a 4-7 record in 11 starts. Back-up Jeff Garcia would fare no better, going 1-4 in five starts. Coach Mariucci would get the boot with a month of football left, replaced by Dick Jauron. After three years of VERY gradual progress, the Lions would end up a disappointing 5-11. For Harrington, sadly, the writing was on the wall. His future was not in Detroit. In the offseason he was traded to Miami for a meager sixth-round draft pick.
Joey Harrington’s would start 21 games between Miami and Atlanta over the next two seasons. Unfortunately, wins continued to be hard to come by, his team going 8-13 in those starts. For the ‘Fins, he would throw a career-high 62 pass attempts and 414 yards in Week 7 of the 2006 season. But he would also throw three picks in the 34-24 loss to Green Bay. In Week 3 of the 2007 season, he would air it out for 361 yards and two TDs, with no turnovers, for Atlanta. They would lose 27-20 to Carolina. It seemed that, even when he played well, Harrington couldn’t come out on the winning end. He would briefly serve as third-stringer on New Orleans in 2008, never taking a snap. In 2009, he would be cut by the Saints just prior to the regular season. The Saints would go on to win the Super Bowl that year.
The Class of 2002 is littered with quarterbacks who struggled to have a productive career. Guys like David Carr and Patrick Ramsey, struggled on franchises that couldn’t put together enough talent and/or a winning culture. Joey Harrington was in the same boat. He came to the Lions when they were in complete freefall. And after he left, they would have five more losing seasons, bottoming out with an 0-16 year in 2008. So it’s hard to really know if Harrington could have been a success in the NFL or not. He certainly shared his side of the story. While the cumulative numbers are unkind to him, Harrington got to live the dream, starting for six seasons in the National Football League. Considering the circumstances under which he played, that seems just good enough for Joey Heisman.
Chart
| Season | W-L% | Tot Y/G | Tot TD/G | Tot TO/G | Y/C/Y/A | Cmp % | TD% | Int% |
| Reg Season | -0.126 | -0.141 | -0.267 | 0.144 | -0.118 | -0.062 | -0.244 | -0.042 |
| Playoffs | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Longevity Bonus = 0.4 Title Bonus = 0.0
Index Score = -4.944 (average QB = 0.0)
Deviation Rank (out of 152)
| Season | W-L% | Tot Y/G | Tot TD/G | Tot TO/G | Y/C/Y/A | Cmp % | TD% | Int% |
| Reg Season | 148th | 135th | 146th | 68th | 152nd | 143rd | 147th | 114th |
| Playoffs | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Why isn’t he on the Top 100 list?
To call Joey Harrington’s six-year career as a starter in the NFL “a struggle” is an understatement. The numbers are pretty ugly, as he finishes in the bottom 10 in five of eight categories for the regular season. That includes finishing dead-last in terms of deviation for average of yards/completion + yards/attempt. His 56.1% career completion percentage is nearly four full percentage points lower than the 59.8% average rate for a quarterback from 2002-2007. He also averaged a mere one touchdown per game, and only a 3.1% TD rate. Most painfully though, he only won just over one-third of his starts, never coming close to a postseason appearance despite starting for three different teams.
But what made him good?
Not much unfortunately with one exception: total turnovers per game. Despite a league-most 22 interceptions in 2003, he only fumbled the ball 25 times in 81 appearances. So his 1.4 fumbles + interception per game is notably better for the league average during his playing days (1.7). And at #68 all time in terms of turnover deviation, he is actually better-than-average in this regard compared to the 152 quarterbacks studied. That even bests a few Hall of Famers such as Y.A. Tittle, John Elway, and Jim Kelly.
The Quarterback Project 